Twilight's Embrace
by Immortal Vorador
Summary: sequel to Myths of Reality Once again facing the wrath of Acastus Kolya, John realizes that things are almost never as simple as they appear to be and that sometimes old friends can be even more dangerous than old foes. ShepWeir other pairingsee inside
1. Thirst for Revenge

Notes: This is the sequel to Myths of Reality and takes place during and after the episode "The Hive" which – apart for some minor changes in dialogue – is unaffected by the events of Myths. Unlike Myths this won't be limited to be a missing episode which means I'm finally free to write anything I want . This time at the beginning of each chapter there will be an excerpt out of a book dealing with Ascension theory, information that will become important in the second half of the story.

Pairings: Shep/Weir and another one I can't reveal yet

Feedback is of course more than welcome and will tremendously increase my motivation –meaning that this is updated faster

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate Atlantis and won't make profit with this story

Again, rated for good measure and langviolsex

Now, I'll shut up and proudly present

Twilight's Embrace

Chapter 1: Thirst for Revenge

_Our research on Ascension began quite coincidental when one of our scouting parties discovered a planet populated by a life form made up entirely out of energy. Most of my colleagues didn't realize the potential in this discovery but I was intrigued by this species and my observations turned out to be the basic principle for Ascension. _

––_Bioengineer Mortanius, Ascension Theory_

The Hive ship, dart bay

Aiden Ford was horrified as he watched Sheppard steering the dart out of the bay and into the vastness of space that waited outside, not bothering to wait for his former second-in-command. True, Aiden had volunteered to take care of the Wraith and had promised he would catch up later but that didn't mean he could escape a hive ship without help. He guessed that Sheppard didn't think of him as a friend anymore for otherwise he wouldn't have abandoned him and this realization pained him more than any physical wound could ever have.

Ford mentally kicked himself for doing something as stupid as leaving his former team and distracting the Wraith without a plan how to get out of the ship if the others couldn't – or were unwilling – to wait for him. At first everything had worked out perfectly, he had killed the four Wraiths that had been chasing them without taking a scratch and had made his way back to the bay – after extracting the enzyme, of course –, happy that he had found a way to make up for his bad behavior and the lack of judgment that had gotten them into this mess in the first place – an elation that had turned out to be extremely short-lived, after all nothing ruins your day more than betrayal.

The anger he felt changed to despair when the first explosions shook the ship, reminding him that he still had to find a way out of there. He guessed that the hive ships had started to fight each other and was almost certain that Sheppard was behind this, stopping the culling without wasting a single thought on his former second-in-command's safety. Pushing his emotions aside for a moment, Aiden scanned the room for any unmanned darts he could use to escape – provided that he would managed to fly them out of here without crashing into something – but to no avail.

His shoulders sagged when he realized that he wouldn't make it out of here and that he would either die when the ship exploded or – if this hive ship won the fight – have to capture a dart and get to the 'gate without being killed in the process, something that was close to impossible. His despair transformed back into anger and in a fit of almost childish defiance he decided that this was all Sheppard's fault, who did everything to see him fail and had methodically sabotaged this mission out of jealousy and spite.

"I'll kill you for this John Sheppard!" he shouted, "Hear me? I'll survive this and than I'll kill you!"

The only reply was the sound of the explosions getting louder and more frequent, telling Aiden that the ship would be destroyed soon and that the chances for him to survive this had just dropped from one in a million to one in a trillion. This thought reminded him of McKay who was still trapped in the cave and he had enough time to wonder what would happen to the scientist if he didn't come back before he felt a sudden, excruciating pain and everything went black.

- - - - -

Elsewhere

Negator Darius was bored, exhausted and drenched in sweat after waiting over three hours on this godforsaken planet. His two comrades looked similarly distressed and for about the hundredth times today Darius wondered what had made him accepting this task in the first place. True, he had been thrilled when he had been told that Evincar Veldrin himself he had a task for him, after all Darius' ambition was as bottomless as the sea and having the Lord of Shakuras as a patron had seemed like the perfect way to fulfill these wishes.

He had expected to be sent on an important mission against the Wraith, maybe scouting a planet or sabotaging a hive ship, something that was more exciting than the monotonous guard duty that waited for him back on Shakuras. When they had become independent from their hated masters, many Gith – including Darius – had expected a surprise attack on as many worlds as possible to overthrow the Wraith with one sweep. However, Veldrin had declared that this strategy would lead to nothing but unnecessary casualties and had taken matters in his own hands, keeping only the highest ranking members on the Legion in the loop.

However, rumors concerning details of Veldrin's strategy were circling freely in the City of Traitors and it was an open secret that Belbe was combing the galaxy on his orders, searching for information – perhaps even technology – that could help defeating the Wraith. Darius often wondered if this long-term strategy was the right one for the idea of overthrowing the Wraith with a massive sneak attack was tempting and sounded like a very good idea to him. Admittedly, the chance that the Evincar valued his opinion on this were slim indeed so he had decided to concentrate on his tasks and leave the planning to the more high ranked members of the Legion.

As it turned out, his mission was to transport supplies to one of their outposts which was by no means as exciting as he has hoped it would be. Apart from being boring, this errand was also annoying because no one had bothered to tell him what he was transporting, why he had to do so and where exactly he should bring it. The Unseen that he delivered Veldrin's orders had told him that the position of the outpost was secret and that all he had to do was to bring the supplies here were another agent would pick them up. Being kept in the dark by your superiors was not unusual on Shakuras but that they hadn't bothered to tell him when exactly this other Gith would drop by set his teeth on edge for this thrice-accursed backwater planet was stifling hot and incredibly dull.

Sighing in exasperation, he once again scanned his surroundings for the mysterious agent that would take care of the rest but as the last thirty times he found nothing but the dense vegetation that surrounded the 'gate.

"Looking for someone in particular?" an amused voice right behind him said, "You should pay more attention Darius, not all visitors are as friendly and sophisticated as I am."

The voice sounded horribly familiar and Darius didn't need to turn around to know that the speaker was one of the most bothersome persons he had ever had the misfortune to meet – this task had just become even more annoying than before.

"I should have known that you're behind this, Entreri," he said, not bothering to keep the irritation out of his voice, "Were you ordered to keep me waiting for three goddamned hours or did you decide this yourself as some kind of practical joke? Your humor is gross enough for this after all.

"Rude as always my friend, " Entreri answered smoothly, not at all affected by the Negator's outbreak, "I assure you that I came here as fast as possible and that keeping you waiting in the heat is way too crude to humor me."

"Working together once certainly doesn't make us to friends," Darius growled, "Now take the supplies and get lost! I have other things to do than waiting for you to do you duty!"

"Oh, what makes you believe that I'm the contact you're waiting for?" Entreri asked, breaking into a mischievous smile, "But don't worry, I'll take the crates anyway and you can enjoy the feeling that you're part of a cunning scheme of mine, a scheme that is far too complicated for you to understand – as soon as you have regained consciousness, that is!"

"What in the name of the Legion are you talking about?" Darius said before a Wraith stunner interrupted him and extinguished his consciousness.

- - - - -

Two weeks later, Atlantis

Dr. Weir sat at her desk, utterly absorbed from the translation she was working on. She wasn't sure what it was about yet but she had the feeling she had found a word that meant 'Ascension' several times and she guessed that the title was 'Ascension Theory', causing her to wonder if she had found a guide to Ascension which would probably be the most exciting discovery so far. The problem was that it was extremely complicatedly written; brimming with terminology she was unfamiliar with and only partly preserved as if someone had tried to delete the file but stopped halfway in the process.

This was perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the document for up to now there had been no signs of censorship in the database and the Ancients seemed to have valued the free exchange of information. Perhaps they had tried to keep this information secret from the Wraith but why leaving the rest of the database intact which was brimming with intelligence about their technology and why wasn't it deleted entirely? Before she could find an answer to this, John Sheppard stormed into her office, looking seriously angry about something. She wondered what could be eating the Colonel for up to now it had been a rather uneventful morning which was a nice change from her usual days which were filled with Wraith attacks, malfunctioning alien technology and other unpleasant things.

"Good morning John," she said, curious what this was about, "What can I do for you?"

"The hell of a good morning!" Sheppard snapped. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"What I think I'm doing?" the expedition leader echoed, "What's the matter with you?"

"I'll tell you what's the matter with me, Elizabeth!" John replied, his voice a dangerous hiss. "I wandered by Ford's former quarters this morning only to found out that you have gotten rid of his stuff and give the place to someone else! I scared the hell out of the girl who lives there now when I entered unannounced because I thought the room was still unused!"

"Wait, let me get this straight," Elizabeth said, more confused that ever, "You're angry at me for giving Ford's former quarters to someone else?"

"Yes, because that shows that you have given up on him!" John responded, "You have absolutely no proof that he's dead but still you're cleaning out his stuff and throw it away!"

"I didn't throw it away but will have it sent back to earth!" she replied angrily, feeling more than unfairly treated by him, "Why are you making such a fuss about this damn room? If Ford came back we would find a new quarter for him!"

"'If he came back'?" he quoted; now almost yelling at her, "I was right! You have already put him on your died-honorable-in-defense-of-Atlantis list and that means you won't lift a finger to search for him anymore. I know that he has caused a lot of trouble lately but Ford doesn't deserve this! I promised his cousin to get him back and now I'm supposed to tell her that we consider him dead because we don't want to search for him anymore?"

"Do you think I don't feel bad about what has happened to him?" she snapped back at him, "I grief for him more than for anyone else who died on this mission but unlike you I don't escape into wishful thinking to make me feel better! The chances for him to survive this are close to zero, John, and the sooner you accept that he's gone the better!"

"He isn't gone!" Sheppard said with almost childish defiance, "I know that he's somewhere out there Elizabeth and I'll find him, no matter the cost! But I can't do this alone, I need your help! Imagine you would be in his place and you would die because the people you thought your friends weren't there to help you. Are the resources we might waste while searching for him more valuable than his life?"

Elizabeth felt oddly touched by John's speech and for a moment she considered giving him what he wanted. Perhaps Ford had managed to escape the hive ship, perhaps the Lieutenant was hiding on one of the worlds they had visited and perhaps Beckett could wean him off the enzyme once they had found him –he had been successful with Rodney, after all. She suddenly realized how foolish these thoughts were – considering the extreme amount of 'perhaps' they included – and that she was close to fell for the same illusion that clouded the Colonel's senses: hope, the hope to right a mistake.

"I'm sorry John but I can't continue the search without any evidence that Ford is still alive!" she said, finding it difficult to get the words out, "I want you to take his stuff with you on your next trip to earth and give it to his family. They deserve to know that he's most likely dead."

She averted her eyes but she didn't have to see John's face to recognize the pained look on it and was glad that he left without another word. She leaned back in her chair and prayed that she would never have to order him to loose hope again.

- - - - -

Meanwhile, another planet (M3X575)

"A swamp planet!" Entreri said, "Why by all means does this planet have to be a swamp planet? I'll never get the mud and the stink out of my clothes!"

"Is everything prepared?" Acastus Kolya asked, ignoring the other man's complains.

"Of course it is," Entreri answered, "It was much easier than I had expected! Either the Atlanteans are by no means as resourceful as I thought or my talents are really quite extraordinary!"

Kolya gritted his teeth and made a mental note to stifle his ally before his already enormous ego swelled any further. Dalamar Entreri was in his opinion the most annoying person in the whole galaxy – maybe apart from John Sheppard. Like his Lantean equivalent, Dalamar had the maddening ability of not only being extremely irritating but also quite capable, making him a man you love to hate but who is either too cunning or too important to be killed. That he was a member of the Genii intelligence – the so-called Hidden Ones – made his attitude even harder to bear for like most of the agents Kolya had met; Entreri looked at any 'ordinary' Genii with contempt and didn't bother to explain himself or his actions to them.

Like many times before – usually whenever his unloved ally made opened his mouth to speak – he wondered what had made him accepting the other Genii's offer in the first place. The circumstances of their first meeting had been a clue what he had to expect when working with someone as arrogant and self-centered as Entreri. Kolya had just finished his training and had been quite surprised to find someone waiting for him in his office. That this someone had been busy with sipping his favorite brandy had turned his surprise into anger in less than five seconds. However, before he had had the chance to do anything rash, Entreri had introduced himself and had said a few words that immediately got Kolya's attention: 'Lanteans' and 'revenge'. He had restrained his anger, snatched his brandy and told Dalamar to tell him more for the chance to finally pay Sheppard back for humiliating twice was just too tempting to be ignored.

It turned out that Entreri had a scheme that – if everything worked out – would not only satisfy Kolya's thirst for vengeance but would also help them to win the war against the Wraith. Acastus would be in charge of the operation and provide the required manpower while his ally would be his second-in-command and supply them with the necessary information and equipment. Convinced that this sounded too good to be true, he had asked the Hidden One where the catch in this plan was. After a moment of hesitation, Dalamar admitted that he hadn't informed Cowen of the plan because he thought it unlikely that he would agree to an operation that would break the truce they currently had with the Lanteans, especially with the Wraith swarming all over the galaxy. Acastus had waved his concerns aside and had accepted the offer, getting quite used to leave Cowen – whom he considered to be far too forgiving with the Lanteans anyway – in the dark. What he hadn't considered was the Hidden One's many antics that made being his superior almost unbearable.

Though Entreri hadn't given him all the details – a habit he would have to beat out of the agent as soon as the opportunity arose – what he had told him sounded very well thought out and quite satisfying. The first part of the scheme involved capturing one of the Atlanteans' off-world teams, Kolya's personal highlight for he was already looking forward to blackmail Sheppard with their lives on stake – only that this time the Colonel wouldn't find a way to wiggle out of this.

One of Dalamar's informants had told them that some of the Lanteans had visited the planet Rath recently which had little to offer expect a vast area of swamps and unusually fertile land – if you managed to find a spot that's actually dry enough for agriculture. Acastus guessed that they wanted to trade with the natives for food like they had wanted to do with the Genii in the first place and was sure that they would come back to make the deal perfect.

He had voiced these thoughts to Entreri what had resulted in one of the smuggest grins he had ever seen and had set objects completely in motion for the spy's contact had told him that the Lanteans would be back around midday the next day – and both Kolya and his bothersome ally were determined to meet them.

Now, the Commander and Dalamar were sitting on a hillock overlooking the Stargate, completely hidden by the thick foliage but still able to see everything that happened around the 'gate. Two bored looking guards flanked the device not because Rath was a particularly dangerous world but because the natives were quite xenophobic and allowed not more than two foreigners at the same time in their village. The rest of the team waited for their comrades at the only remarkable location in this vast area of swamps and decay, completely unaware of their impending capture.

Entreri had told him that they would strike as soon as the team dialed back to Atlantis and had transmitted the signal that would lower the shield so he could sent message of their capture on the 'most dignified way possible'. Personally, Kolya would kill two of them and leave a note on their cooling bodies but his ally had dismissed this method as far too gross and not at all sophisticated enough. Once during their silent vigil Entreri had stopped complaining about whatever had annoyed him at this moment – like the heat, the mud, the smell, Kolya's prosaic attitude, the horrific design of the Lantean's uniforms and various other nuisances Acastus hadn't bothered to memorize – and had slipped into the swamp to finish the preparations for the ambush – without telling his ally what exactly he had in mind because he was unwilling to 'spoil the surprise'.

Originally, they had intended to do this before the Atlanteans would arrive here but having to keep Cowen in the dark had delayed their departure and this original idea hadn't took the natives paranoia into account that would force their targets to leave some of them behind. When Kolya spotted movement on the path that led to the native's village he hoped for Entreri's sake that everything would work out for otherwise he would kill the spy for wasting his time and being a pain in the ass. A small smile found its way to the spy's features while watching the Lanteans through a spyglass and Acastus watched him pulling a small, completely unfamiliar device out of his clothes which look remarkable like a fuse to him.

Just as the Commander was busy with wondering what Entreri wanted to detonate with it, his ally triggered it and a bluish explosion surrounded the 'gate as well as the Lanteans. Without waiting for him or bothering to explain what had happened right now, Dalamar got up and dashed to the still open wormhole, throwing what looked like a crumbled piece of paper inside as soon as he was within throwing range. When the Stargate slammed shut he began dialing another planet and ordered Kolya to tie up their prisoners. In a generous mood – this was the first step to make Sheppard pay for humiliating him after all – he let this insolence pass and asked the agent what exactly had happened right now instead.

"I knocked them out with a Wraith stunner grenade," the other Genii explained, "it works exactly like an ordinary Wraith stunner but it affects not only one target but the whole area and can be triggered from a distance. I buried one right next to the 'gate because this seemed the best way to capture them. It was simple, effective and elegant like every plan that origins from this extraordinary brain of mine! A minor drawback is that they remain consciousness and will be able to move again pretty soon but then they'll be tied up, disarmed and on another planet!"

"Where did you get this grenade?" Kolya asked, "And how did you deposit it without them knowing?"

"As I said, I have a considerable amount of extraordinary talents," Entreri stated, sounding more than a little pleased with himself, "Come, my partner in crime, let's meet with your old friends. I'm sure you'll like the next part of the plan!"

- - - - -

"Where are they?" Dr. Weir asked no one in particular, "They should be through by now!"

"Perhaps we should get the shield up," Bates suggested, "If they're under attack and unable to reach the 'gate, it would be more than reckless to leave us as vulnerable as we are now!"

John was convinced that Bates was overreacting once again, for up to now nothing serious had happened every time they had ignored the Marine's paranoia in a similar situation. True, there had been some minor damage in the 'gate room caused by a stray energy bolt which had been fired by a Wraith dart and crossed the event horizon but this strategy had saved the lives of more than one incoming team – including John's own – and had yet to harm anyone on Atlantis, so the Colonel couldn't understand why Bates got all jumpy when it took a team slightly longer than usual to come through the Stargate – after all it had been only a about two minutes since they had received Lorne's id-code.

"Let's give them some more time," Elizabeth said, sharing a meaningful glance with John who had just wanted to say the same thing – only in more drastic way. "After all several important members of this expedition would be dead by now, if I had raised the shield on similar situations!"

John couldn't help but smile at the disgruntled expression on Bates' face – which faded after a few seconds, giving way to the inscrutable expression the other soldier usually wore. He guessed the Sergeant was quite frustrated with his job, after all almost every suggestion he had made since their arrival in Pegasus had been more or less politely ignored – usually because John didn't like it and had the extraordinary ability to talk Elizabeth into almost everything.

However, Sheppard's amusement passed when the thought reminded him of limits of his talent and its most recent failure that was only about two hours old. He had pitted his willpower against Weir's and this time the expedition leader's had proved stronger. The thought frustrated, infuriated and depressed him at the same time for he was one hundred percent sure that Ford was alive and somewhere out there, probably in trouble, and just couldn't understand Weir's refusal to continue the search.

Sure, the chances for Ford survival this were quite slim but nevertheless John was absolutely certain that Elizabeth was vastly underestimating the kid's ability to get himself out of trouble. After all, he had managed to escape from a Wraith cruiser without a single scratch what should be proof enough that it took more than an exploding hive ship to take him down.

Not only that Elizabeth refused to see this, she also seemed convinced that he was in denial and unable to cope with the Lieutenant's death – a claim that touched and angered John at the same time for he had more than enough experience in dealing with losses. However, a tiny part of him wondered if she had actually analyzed him correctly, for the urge to find Ford had become stronger the more he had thought about his last encounter with the renegade marine. In the first days after the destruction of the hive ship he had managed not to think too much about his former second-in-command's fate – though he probably still thought about this much more frequently than anyone else on this base – partly because he had been quite busy at this time and because he had expected that Ford would contact him, even thought he had no idea what would happen at such an encounter.

His anxiousness had returned quite suddenly this morning when the sudden impulse of paying Aiden's former quarters a visit had revealed that Elizabeth had given up on him. He had realized that if Ford was death, it would make him his murderer. Not only that he had left the kid on a hive ship, he had also made sure that the very same hive ship had been destroyed, ignoring the rather obvious fact that his former second-in-command would likely be annihilated along with the ship.

What disturbed him most was this had seemed to be really good idea at the time, saving the lives of thousands of people and giving him the chance to escape with his team – which hadn't included Ford at the time. At first he had blamed the stress, the mental powers of the Queen or the fact that Aiden had wanted to stay behind but in the end it all came down to one thing – he had abandoned the Lieutenant when he had need him and probably signed his death warrant at the same time.

The turn of events reminded him unpleasantly of his very first mission in this galaxy during which he had shot Sumner only that it was even harder to bear this time for he knew Ford much better than Sumner and – unlike the Colonel – the Lieutenant hadn't asked him to end his life. John could only hope that they would find the kid alive because he wasn't sure he could live with the knowledge that he had been responsible for his death.

The sound of something crossing the event horizon interrupted his dark musings and he looked up just in time to see a crumbled sheet of paper rematerialize landing right in front of him. The Stargate slammed shut after it had passed and when John bent down and unfolded the paper, he could feel the eyes of everyone in the room on him. It turned out to be a letter written in an unfamiliar, elaborate handwriting and addressed to Dr. Weir. After she had given him an encouraging nod, he started to read out aloud:

"_Felicitations Dr. Weir,_

_we have never met before but after what my prosaic partner Arcastus Kolya told me you are the beautiful and brilliant leader of Atlantis – I'm reinterpreting his words a bit here, but at least this shows that he holds a grudging respect for you. It might interest you that we have taken one of your teams captive, an inconvenience I would have liked to avoid but there seemed to be no other way to get your attention. However, I assure you that you'll get them back unharmed if you agree to our conditions and don't try anything unnecessarily heroic. Sheppard and his team will meet us on a certain rather overgrown planet I haven't bothered to name yet, in exactly two hours from now. Delay is quite acceptable but will affect that condition of your men which might be missing a few limbs should you leave us waiting for too long. Once your underlings have arrived we can negotiate about the return of your men to Atlantis. _

_Yours sincerely,_

_Dalamar Entreri _

A Stargate address was scribbled down at the bottom of the page, an address which looked disturbingly familiar. John's eyes went wide when he recognized it and he wondered why Entreri had chosen this meeting place.

"This is the address to P3M-736," he stated, his mind already spinning with possibilities. "When do we move out, Elizabeth?"

"Wait, wait, wait!" McKay interrupted. "Isn't this the planet with the incredible intense sunlight, the one Ford hid on for some time? Because if it is, it would be suicide to go there! We would have to face Kolya and whatever sick little scheme he has in mind for us without jumpers or life sign detectors while trying not to get toasted by the sunlight. Maybe I'm overreacting but in my opinion this is a bad plan! And I don't mean simple, run of the mill bad but extremely bad, the kind of bad plan that borders on suicide!"

"I understand your objections Rodney but we really don't have another option," Elizabeth said, putting the I-don't-care-and-now-get-moving much nicer that John would ever been able to. "Even if I were uncaring enough to leave Lorne there the fact that Kolya has managed to capture one of our teams so easily is disturbing. We have to find out how he has done this and if he could do it again so I know in how much danger we are and what we can do against it. Get ready, John, you're leaving in half an hour. Be as diplomatic as possible and at least try to negotiate with him but don't take any chances, Kolya is probably burning to pay you back for defeating him twice!"

"Don't worry I don't intent to let him win this time, even it would make a nice change." Sheppard said, giving her a reassuring smile.

He was sure that she didn't believe a word of this but she only nodded so he left the 'gate room to gather his team for a mission that sounded more like suicide the longer he thought about it.

- - - - -

Later, P3M-736

Less than half an hour later, John stepped through the event horizon on P3M-736 and was immediately blinded by the intense sunlight. It seemed far brighter than the last time he had been here and even with his sunglasses on it seemed to take an eternity for his eyes to adjust to the glare. His teammates seemed to have similar problems and judging from McKay's constant complains not all of them had brought something to shield his or her eyes' with.

When his vision finally cleared, he realized that they weren't alone in the clearing that housed the Stargate. Lorne, Perish and two soldiers John didn't know by name kneeled a few meters away, their faces strangely void of emotions and delirious. Motioning his teammates to follow him, he moved closer to the kneeling men while keeping an eye out for hidden guards. It certainly wasn't below Kolya to use humans as bait if it fitted into his plans but the Colonel guessed he would just have to fall for this rather obvious trap, relying once again on his ability to get himself out of trouble.

As he drew nearer, he noticed in what bad shape Lorne and his team were. They looked seriously dehydrated, their faces were badly sunburned and they still didn't seem to notice that he was there. He guessed that Kolya had forced them to remain right here where the blazing midday sun would surely kill them should no one come for them soon. Entreri's almost causal remark that delay would harm the captives came to his mind and new anger at Kolya as well as at his new lapdog flared in John. Just when he was about to pull Lorne back to his feet and get him out of the sun – as much as this was possible on this dammed planet – the trap that he had been waiting for sprung.

Almost a dozen Genii, including John's least favorite one, emerged from the jungle, weapons drawn and ready. However, they made no move to open fire so he signaled his team to play along – at least until he knew what they were up to. Nevertheless, he prepared himself for a fight and was determined to take at least Kolya with him should the things go out of hand.

"I must admit I didn't thought you would come," the Genii Commander said. "You must be even more foolish than I had thought. What makes you believe that I won't kill you, now I have the chance?"

"If you only wanted to kill me, you would have ambushed my team and not Lorne's," John replied. "I guess you need us for something because otherwise this whole affair wouldn't make much sense."

Instead of his would-be killer, a younger soldier who stood to Kolya's right commented on his bold words.

"He's clever," he chuckled, "I guess he already sees right through our little scheme. Perhaps this is why he has managed to thwart your plans two times in a row, Kolya!"

"Major Sheppard, may I introduce you to my second-in-command Dalamar Entreri," the older Genii replied, stressing the word 'second'. "I guess you should get along quite well, after all he is almost as annoying as you are!"

Entreri was a lean man of average height whose age was all but impossible to tell. His plain face was still young and unlined, though his hair, which was a deep ash blonde that bordered on grey and neatly tied into a ponytail, made him look much older than he probably was. His most striking features were his steel grey eyes that help a sparkle of intelligence, mischief and something John couldn't identify right now but he was almost certain that he wouldn't like it. He wondered if it had been Entreri's idea to leave Lorne and the others shackled in the sun or if this sadistic idea had come from Kolya's twisted mind – most likely the latter, considering the Genii hatred for him.

"Sir? Are you really here?" Lorne asked in a raspy voice, apparently having realized that he was there.

"Either that or you're hallucinating about your CO which would be a good reason to pay Dr. Heightmeyer's couch a visit," the Colonel replied, before growing serious again. "Don't worry, Lorne, I'll get you out of here – one way or the other."

"You're as overconfident as always, Sheppard!" Kolya stated his voice dripping with contempt. "We have outnumbered and outgunned you, you can use neither Puddle Jumper nor Lifesign detectors on this planet, so even you should know that starting a fight would be the last thing you'd ever do. If you want your men back, you'll have to do something for me."

"Oh great, here it comes," McKay said, "Let's see what the great Kolya wants us to do. Delivering him a dozen ZPMs? Freeing the galaxy from the Wraith or maybe just giving him Atlantis on a silver platter?"

"None of this but I doubt that you'll like it anyway," the Commander said with a humorless smile, "All you need to know at the moment is that it will involve fighting the Wraith and that we'll need one of your ships. As a token of trust you may take three of the hostages back to Atlantis but Major Lorne will remain here – together with our special guest. You'll get them back unharmed as soon as you have finished my task!"

"What do you mean with i special guest /i ?" John asked, already knowing that he wouldn't like the answer.

Instead of answering, the Genii exchanged a glance with Entreri who tossed Sheppard an envelope with a definitely dangerous glimmer in his eyes. After trading a few nervous glances with his comrades; he started to break the seal, bracing himself for the worst – whatever this might be.

- - - - -

Entreri smiled inwardly while watching Sheppard opening the envelope with shaking fingers. Unlike Kolya, he held no grudge for the Colonel and the thought of making him as miserable as possible didn't appeal to Entreri at all – at least not at the moment. The source of his amusement was that until now everything had gone exactly as planned. He was sure that the Lanteans would help them, after all they were typical do-gooders and like all do-gooders predictable to the extreme. To Dalamar, this mission was like a game of chess where only one figure counted – the one representing his own life – and where had just gotten all the figures where he needed them . All he had to do was to make the right moves at the right time and to make sure that his stubborn and vastly independent figures didn't kill each other.

- - - - -

While everybody else was entirely focused on John opening the envelope, Teyla – and Ronon probably too – kept an eye on the Genii around them, especially on Kolya who was watching the whole scene with dark triumph written on his face. She was just wondering whatever pleased him so, when a soft metallic sound got her attention. Apparently, Colonel Sheppard had finally unwrapped Kolya's mysterious message and was currently staring at something on his open palm. From her position, she couldn't make out what the Colonel was looking at but whatever it was it seemed to have deeply shaken him.

"Are you alright, Colonel?" she asked softly, more than a little worried about that.

Instead of answering, Sheppard turned around and showed her what had been in the envelope. She recognized that it was one of the metallic amulets they called 'dog tags' – which was in her opinion a rather strange name for a trinket – and almost gasped aloud when she saw what was written on this particular chain.

'_Lieutenant Aiden Ford, United States Marine Corp.'_


	2. An illfated Reunion

Chapter 2: An ill-fated reunion

_Studying the energy creatures turned out to be more difficult than we had expected. Not only they were radically different from all other know life forms but they were also very dangerous and completely unwilling to participate. After inventing a device that could trap them and several weeks of intensive work, we found something that looked like the energetic equivalent to our genetic code and began to decode it, hoping to reveal what had created this fascinating beings._

––_Bioengineer Mortanius, Ascension Theory_

Atlantis, Conference Room

"No way, Colonel!" Elizabeth said. "I won't allow you to go on with this suicide mission!"

"Are you kidding?" John snapped, looking as if he couldn't believe what he had heard. "Ford and Lorne will die if we don't help them!"

If the situation wasn't so dire, she would have laughed about the irony of John Sheppard asking her if she was serious. After all he was the one who wasn't – who couldn't be serious – for what he suggested was as dangerous as walking into a hive ship unarmed, hoping that the Wraith won't take notice of you. Right after receiving Kolya's 'gift' they had returned to Atlantis bringing orders to return to P3M-736 within three hours where they would meet with one of his men. The Commander had made it clear that if they didn't come alone, refused to bring a jumper or did something 'heroic', he would kill of the remaining hostage without hesitation.

Perish and the other members of Major Lorne's team had survived their capture without any permanent damage though Beckett had told her that it had been a tight fit and that remaining in the sun slightly longer would have most assuredly killed them. Even for Kolya that was an unusual cruel way to treat prisoners and she didn't want to consider what he would do to remaining hostages, if they didn't follow his orders. Nevertheless, she thought that doing what he wanted would be a grave mistake and close to suicide for she strongly suspected that he would kill both the hostages and anyone else she sent once he had what he wanted.

However, not everyone in the Conference Room – which hosted Bates, John's team and herself – seemed to share her opinion so she soon found herself in another argument with John which promised to become even uglier than the one this morning. She was quite certain that he would do whatever he wanted no matter the outcome of this discussion but she would do what she could to stop him from walking into his doom – or at least make it as difficult as possible.

"There is no mission, John," she stated matter-of-factly, "there's only Kolya and whatever he has in mind for you! Your 'plan' is to play along until he makes a mistake but what if he never does? You would be in his mercy and I'm sure you know as well as I do that he will kill you should this ever happen! No matter what we do, we can only loose. It's like flipping a coin only that you'll loose on both head and tails. Either I sent you there and offer Kolya your life on a silver platter or I'll order you to stay here and we'll loose Lorne – and Ford if the Genii really have captured him!"

"You do not believe that Kolya speaks the truth?" Teyla asked, looking surprised.

"I'm just wondering if this is trick that's supposed to give us another reason to help him," the expedition leader replied, "all we have are the dog tags which don't prove anything. Ford could have lost or sold those months ago and the Genii could have found them. I mean, even if the Lieutenant has survived and is still out there, how could Kolya capture him while we failed every time we tried?"

"He really has him," John said after a few moments, "I remember that he still wore his tags when he entered the hive ship with us."

"I don't want to sound cynical or egoistic but we're not going to go back there, are we?" Rodney asked, glancing at Sheppard nervously. "I mean, Elizabeth is right, we can't win that one."

"If you flip a coin often enough, it will eventually land on its edge," John replied calmly, as if this was the solution for their problems.

"You're joking, right?" McKay asked, "I admit it is a nice metaphor but our lives are on stake here and taking outrageous risks is no guarantor for success!"

"I think Colonel Sheppard is right," Bates said, his words followed by a stunned silence.

"You think I'm right?" John asked incredulously, obviously not having expected Bates to come to his help.

"I know that this doesn't happen a lot of times, but yes," the Sergeant responded. "Don't get me wrong, your plan is clumsy, reckless and not thought out but it's the only real alternative we have would only make it worse. We would lose two men and if Kolya really needs our help, he would simply take more hostages until we have done what he wants us to do. We still have no idea how he can find and subdue our men so easily and if we don't find out, it will be much too risky to send any teams off-world, meaning that we are stuck here. If the only way to prevent this is a desperate gamble then we should take it, simply because the alternative is much worse!"

Elizabeth thought about what Bates had said for some time and came to the conclusion that he was right. As much she hated to bring even more of her men into danger, it seemed that she had no choice. She wondered why she hadn't thought about this; after all it had been her who had told them to find out about Kolya's mysterious tactical advantage in the first place. Perhaps she had been too emotional, too afraid that John was once again entirely focused on finding Ford, to concentrate on the facts – a mistake she didn't plan to repeat anytime soon.

"Very well, you may go," she said. "Find out as much as you can but the most important thing is that both you and the hostages make it back here alive."

When she watched the others leaving, she found herself toying with a coin, without any idea where it had come from. She toyed with the idea of flipping it but managed to resist the temptation – she was too afraid that it wouldn't land on the edge.

- - - - -

Later, P3M-736

"What took you so long?" Dalamar Entreri asked. "I was beginning to worry that you wouldn't show up and that I would have to endure Kolya's bad mood for the rest of the day!"

"I didn't expect you to meet us, "John stated, not bothering to answer the Genii's question. "Is Kolya that sure that we'll play along that he sends his second-in-command into such a dangerous situation?"

His curiosity wasn't faked; he found it more than a little peculiar to meet someone as important as Entreri doing an errand both that simple and dangerous. After all, even if everything went as planned – out of Kolya's perspective – it was four against one and if not, virtually everything could happen. The Genii wasn't even armed except for his equivalent for a 9 mil and Sheppard was fairly certain that even so it would be easy enough to capture him. The only thing that troubled him was the strange crystal Entreri wore on a chain around his neck, a crystal that looked both unknown and maddening familiar. Before he could come up with an answer where he could have seen a similar stone, Ronon broke his concentration:

"Why don't we just capture him and use him to get our men back?" he asked. "Let's beat Kolya at his own game!"

"Ah, I expected you to suggest something like that, apparently you are every bit as brutish as you look," Entreri answered, not at the least impressed by Ronon's threats. "However, the flaw in your plan is that Kolya doesn't care enough about me to make this work. I'm not one of his men but a Hidden One, a member of the Genii intelligence and apparently he doesn't hold us in great esteem. Believe it or not, I'm not even sure if he would be too unhappy if you killed me."

"Pity," Ronon growled, "But we can still force all the information we need to rescue our people out of you. I'm sure you won't be as cocky anymore after I'm done with you."

John was no friend of strong-arm tactics but he had to admit that the Satedan's idea had its advantages. If Entreri knew enough about the other Genii's plans it might be worth a try. With more information the chances to free Lorne and Ford would improve greatly, for example knowing on which planet they were kept would be a good start. He wondered whether he should tell Ronon to leave the Genii alive but decided not to bother for he doubted that Entreri would if their position were swapped.

"Oh please, last time was amusing but now your empty threats are getting tiresome." Kolya's second-in-command said. "You might not be aware of it but violence is a tool better used sparingly and it won't get you anywhere in a situation like this one. Do you really think I would come here without a way to make sure I would leave here alive?"

John noticed that the Genii had chosen exactly this moment to toy with the crystal around his neck and he once again had the impression that there was something important about this stone, something he really should remember. Both Teyla and McKay also glanced at the improvised amulet nervously as if they had the same unsettling impression while Ronon seemed oblivious to the discomfort of his teammates.

"And how is a trinket supposed to help you?" he asked, clearly believing that Entreri was either bluffing or a fool.

"Why don't you ask your comrades, my brutish friend?" the Genii answered. "They seem to recognize my crystal, maybe they have already witnessed what this 'trinket' can do?"

"Quit stalling, Entreri, and just say what you want us to know," Sheppard said, tired of this little game.

"This crystal is called a voidstone and is a device that can store the life signatures of up to six human beings," Entreri explained, a sly smile on his lips. "We stole this one from the Gith and filled it with the essence of your precious Lieutenant Ford."

It took a few moments for the message to sink in but then John realized how screwed they were. If Kolya had been stupid enough to steal equipment from the Gith, it would be only a question of time until they showed up here and reclaimed what was theirs. Usually he wouldn't mind seeing two of his enemies fight each other but the prospect of facing the wrath of both Kolya and Evincar Veldrin at the same time held no appeal at all for him. All he could hope for that even the Gith would need some time to find them and that he would be safely back on Atlantis when they finally succeeded.

"Belbe must have used one of them to bring us into the City of Traitors and we must have recognized it subconsciously," McKay concluded. "That would explain how they could have captured Ford, the enzyme may render him almost immune against Wraith stunners but it can't protect him from getting dematerialized."

"Whether Ford is in there or not changes nothing," Ronon stated, "you're still in our mercy!"

"Quite the contrary, it changes everything," Dalamar said, without any trace of fear, "you might not be aware of it but voidstones can't store life signatures indefinitely. Without proper maintenance they will reset themselves after a few days and I'm afraid that Ford is in there for a few days."

"Does that mean that Aiden will die if we don't do what you say?" Teyla asked, even though she probably knew the answer.

"He wouldn't actually die but cease to exist, whether this is better than dying you'll have to decide for yourself," the Genii responded, "I'm quite sure that McKay will eventually find a way to restore his physical form but by there will be nothing left to restore. The only chance for your friend to survive is that you play along and follow me to Kolya without harming me. Once we're there I can use some of the equipment we've stolen to rematerialize Ford."

"And you would give up one of your dead pledges because you're such a nice person, right?" John asked sarcastically. "Do you think we're stupid enough to buy this?"

"What you believe or don't believe doesn't really matter because you have no choice – at least no real one," Entreri stated. "I know that you won't let Ford die which leaves you no other option than to do what I say – unless you feel lucky enough to let McKay try it. You'll just have to believe that it fits into my plan to restore the Lieutenant once we have reached out destination. I would give you my word but we both know that that won't be enough for you anyway."

"Do you think you can get Ford out of there in time, Rodney?" John inquired, not yet ready to admit you that Kolya's second-in-command had just checkmated him.

"I have no idea," McKay admitted, "but I don't think we should risk it. I may be a genius but I don't know anything about those stones and even back on Atlantis finding a way to get him out will likely take more time than Ford has."

"Yes, I feared you'd say something like this," the Colonel said, "Ok, Entreri, you have won; we'll do what you say!"

"Ah, that's much better than the constant threatening!" Dalamar said, seeming to enjoy the situation. "Here's what happens now: We'll meet with Kolya and Lorne on another planet before we move on to our destination: a godforsaken planet on the edge of the galaxy whose Stargate is in space. Once we're there the Commander will tell you what you have to do to get Lorne back and I'll free Ford of his crystalline prison."

"What's so special about this planet that you take such great efforts to get there?" John asked, "And how do you even know about it? Correct me if I'm wrong but you didn't have any spaceships the last time we met!"

"Would you be surprised when I told you how talkative Gith become when being threatened sufficiently?" Entreri asked. "They have given us the address and a reason to go there: a downed Wraith ship."

John remembered the last time he had explored a crashed Wraith ship and wondered if it was possible for his day could become any worse.

- - - - -

Meanwhile, another planet

Belbe shivered when the cold wind passed right through her cloak and once again regretted not seeking a more sheltering position that would have made waiting a lot more comfortable. Her steelsilk armor was extremely light and surprisingly resistant but it was by no means warm enough for this planet and crouching on top of a hillock with only a few scattered rocks as shelter made this task even more unpleasant.

However, there wasn't any real alternative to being here so she decided to concentrate on her mission again. About six meters beneath her was a settlement of this planet's native, who were a rather primitive folk the Gith were not at all interested in. The only thing that made a visit here worthwhile was the information she had found in a Wraith date device which told her that a hive ship would soon arrive here and start culling the planet. On other circumstances this would be a reason to stay as far away from this world as possible but in fact she had a plan to turn the destruction of this world to her advantage. It was quite risky and had almost got her killed the last time she tried it but she just couldn't afford the luxury of safety at the moment.

Veldrin had made it quite clear that his patience was at an end and that he wouldn't need her any longer should she fail to bring him what he wanted, not caring about how difficult the task was he had set her. She had been so close a few weeks ago but some 'complications' had caused her to abandon her mission and return to Shakuras with empty hands. Veldrin had been raging in his office for almost half an hour before dismissing and setting her an ultimatum of three days. As unpleasant as this experience had been, Belbe was sure that she probably wouldn't be alive anymore if she had told the Evincar the real reason for her failure instead of remaining vague and claiming that the fighting between the Wraith had gone out of hand, forcing her to retreat.

Despite herself, she actually regretted taking actions behind Veldrin's back, being unpleasantly reminded of the time she had spent in Gix's service. Out of a reason she didn't know, the former Highexecutor had become colder, more calculating and totally intolerant of failure in the last months, making working for him similar unpleasant like working for the Wraith.

The unmistakable sound of Wraith darts caused her to discard this train of thought and she took some time to check her equipment once again. She extracted a small brooch out of her cloak and pinned it to her armor before activating her most valuable possession – the amulet that turned her invisible. Safely hidden from view, she waited calmly for a dart to come close enough to her, oblivious for the suffering of the people beneath her who had played their part in this scheme. As soon as one of the darts was close enough, Belbe jumped and landed precisely were she wanted to – right in the teleporting beam which immediately dematerialized her.

- - - - -

It took much longer than expected to pick Kolya up and when he finally arrived in the orbit of their destination, John had begun to wonder if they would manage to get Ford out in time. Even though a constant countdown in his head would be quite irritating but the uncertainty if the Lieutenant could be rematerialized was far worse. He kept checking his watch to see how much time had passed even though he had no idea if Ford had seconds, minutes, hours or days left to live. He also found himself glancing at the voidstone around Entreri's neck from time to time, searching for some clue if it had reset itself yet. Despite his worries for his friend, Sheppard was turning suspicious if Dalamar was only bluffing and the whole story was just a ploy to keep them under control – and himself alive. Unfortunately, he couldn't afford these doubts for in the unlikely case that the Genii was telling the truth any hesitation could be deadly for Ford and John would be dammed if he let his former second-in-command die. Perhaps his jumpiness was one reason for the very tense atmosphere in the Jumper – which seemed to get even worse the close they came to their destination – and he didn't want to consider what would happen if Kolya or Ronon – which were most likely to do so – lost their temper.

Ronon was still convinced that working with the Genii was a poor plan and only seemed to wait for a reason to attack them even though John had given him the direct order not to do anything without his permission. True, their chances in a fight had improved slightly because – due to the limited space within a Jumper – only Kolya, Entreri and two other soldiers accompanied them but the Colonel was convinced that the Genii were aware of their vulnerability and had taken precautions. One of those apparently was to keep a gun on Lorne's temple, ready to kill the Major should the Lantean try something 'unnecessary heroic' as Entreri liked to put it. Not willing to risk the lives of two of his men, John could only play along and hope that the Genii would make the mistake he was waiting for.

Truth be told, he was beginning to fear that Elizabeth had been right, that coming here had been a mistake but it was far too late for second thoughts now. Besides, judging from what the Commander's second-in-command had told him back on P3M-736, there seemed to be no love lost between Dalamar and Kolya, and he wondered if he might use this to his advantage. Entreri, who sat next to him on the shotgun seat, interrupted his train of thought at this point:

"I admit that the view is extraordinary but I'm sure Lieutenant Ford would appreciate if you landed soon. It would make examining the ship a lot easier – and putting him back together as well!"

John stifled the angry retort that was on his mind for he didn't consider it smart to start arguing with the more mild-tempered of his captors. After all, he might need Dalamar's help should Kolya finally give in to his urge to kill him. He was not nearly naïve enough to think that the Hidden One actually cared for him as a person but he probably wouldn't have such an important mission jeopardized by the other Genii's whims – Commander or not. So he decided to that he would stay diplomatic, play along and to resist the growing urge to smash Dalamar's face – at least for now.

"Did the Gith tell you were exactly on this planet the Wraith ship crashed?" he asked Entreri

"I'm afraid they omitted this part when giving their report," the Genii stated, "but I was hoping that you could locate it with this amazing ship."

"Oh sure, and what else shall we find for you?" Rodney asked with his usual sarcasm.

"That would be all at the moment, Dr. McKay, and I would advise you to hold your tongue in check," the Hidden One replied. "I might tolerate your constant complains but not everyone here is as even-tempered as I am. But feel free to go ahead, I'm sure the Commander would enjoy disciplining you!"

"Just concentrate on finding this damn ship, Rodney," John advised, "I know you don't like helping Kolya and neither do I but being stubborn won't help. We'll give them what they want and be back on Atlantis before dinner!"

John wondered if McKay got the message between the lines which was 'at least we'll pretend to help them unless I find a way out of this mess. Play along and leave the rest to me' but he took the fact that the scientist didn't argue as a good sign. Instead, Rodney stepped to the consoles – pushing Entreri out of the way in the process much to the Genii's displeasure – and started pressing buttons so quickly that John couldn't follow. After less than thirty seconds of concentrated work, the astrophysicist stepped back and almost immediately a glowing dot appeared on the Jumper's HUD, marking a position close to the planet's equator.

"Here we go," Rodney said, "all I had to do was to recalibrate the sensors to take up even faint energy signatures. The ship must still be largely intact for otherwise we wouldn't have picked up the signal over this distance."

Entreri looked thrilled by this revelation but John wasn't sure whether this was good or bad news. After all, an intact ship meant only one thing: Whatever they were about to do, they would have to face the Wraith to do it.

- - - - -

Teyla was more than a little relieved when she had solid ground under her feet again. Not that she was troubled by flying but this journey had been one of the most unpleasant she had ever made. She had spent it silently, her thoughts getting darker every moment. It had pained her to see Major Lorne bond and badly sunburned with a pistol constantly pressed on his temple, as if the Genii waited for a reason to kill him. Kolya himself had seemed delighted by the amount of control he had about his enemies and angry at the same time but for what reason Teyla didn't know. Anyway, the result had been extremely unpleasant and she had almost envied Colonel Sheppard and Dr. McKay who had been in the front part of the Jumper and thus out of the Commander's reach.

However, she had had a very good reason not to try to swap with them – apart from not wanting to leave Ronon and Lorne alone with Kolya – and this reason was named Dalamar Entreri. She didn't know why but Entreri got under her skin and somehow she hated him more than she hated Kolya – even if he hadn't tried to kill her and everyone she held dear yet. Nevertheless, he enjoyed blackmailing them far too much and seemed to know everything in advance, an ability Teyla found extremely disquieting. Whenever he looked at her, a chill went through her body and she felt like his eyes would see into the darkest regions of her soul, stripping layer after layer away and laying her most precious secrets bare. The others either didn't feel the same way or hid their feelings very well and more than once this day she had wondered if the tension of the last hours had started to affect her sanity.

Voices from outside caused her to snap out of her thoughts and she realized that everyone else had already left the Jumper. Not wanting to miss anything, she quickly followed them and was quite surprised when she found herself within waving fields of grass. As far as she could see there was nothing but this strange, golden grass, waving lazily in the soft breeze. It was hot on this planet but the sunlight was not nearly as intense as on P3M-736 and the wind rendered the heat quite bearable. Her teammates and the Genii had already scattered around the Jumper, eying each other suspiciously.

"I don't see a Wraith ship here, Major Sheppard!" Kolya said, glaring at him. "Do you think I went to here to admire the landscape?"

"Personally, I think you brought us here because you're a psychotic and vengeful bastard but of course my opinion doesn't count!" McKay snapped. "Do you really think we would be stupid enough to land right next to a crashed Wraith ship?"

"Dr. McKay wants to say that both Colonel Sheppard and I considered it safer to land a few miles away from the ship," Entreri stated while rummaging through one of the supply crates they had brought with them. "After all we have no way of knowing how many Wraith have survived the crash and walking in there unprepared seemed a poor strategy indeed!"

"And I'm sure you considered this change of plan not important enough to inform me, didn't you Entreri?" the Commander asked, his eyes narrowing in anger. "You seem to forget who's in charge of this operation! I have all the information I need from you so if you give me one more reason, I'll make sure you won't leave this planet alive!"

"My demise would almost certainly enrage the Hidden One and I really doubt that you'd be stupid enough to mess with them," Dalamar responded, apparently not at all impressed. "Besides, you know as good as I do that you still need me so please spare me the empty threats! However, you should know that in order to bring Colonel Sheppard and this team here – as you commanded me to by the way – I had to promise them that I would restore Lieutenant Ford as soon as we've landed. There wasn't really much of an alternative so I guessed you would be fine with this bargain."

Judging from the look on Kolya's face, the Commander was by no means fine with this arrangement and Teyla wondered if Entreri had gone too far. The Hidden One seemed to share this impression for he stopped searching the supplies and continued talking:

"Yes, I know I should have asked you first but I needed something that would stop them from killing me and Lieutenant Ford seemed like a perfect death pledge. Remember that we wouldn't even be here without this little trick of mine! In fact, it might even come in handy to rematerialize the Lieutenant now. I'm sure that our Lantean friends would appreciate his help in this task you have for them and if he does something stupid we'll simply get rid of him and continue as planned. I promise that I'll stop undermining your authority and follow you with utter obedience as soon as our friend is out of the crystal!"

"You better accept his terms, Kolya, for we won't do anything while Ford is still stuck in this damned crystal!" Colonel Sheppard said. "I don't care if you have problems with you subordinates and I won't let a member of my team suffer because you can't bring them to follow your orders!"

Kolya gave Sheppard a look of pure loathing and seemed to consider his options before speaking again:

"Very well Entreri, get Lieutenant Ford out of your crystal! But remember that I won't tolerate any further insubordination from you side!"

"Let's hope then that none will be necessary in the close future," Dalamar replied with a smirk. "I've finally found the device I need to rematerialize him – a rather unremarkable trinket I might say. With your permission I would like to start right away."

As soon as Kolya had nodded his approval, Entreri present a roughly fist sized sphere made out of a dull, opaque metal. He removed the voidstone from the chain he wore it on and pressed it to the sphere which immediately dissolved and reformed around it. Holding the new slightly larger globe in his hand, he closed his eyes and seemed to concentrate, causing the orb to glow like a small sun. After a few moments a beam similar to those used by Wraith darts shot from the globe showering the plains into intense, silvery light. When the light faded after some seconds, Aiden lay on the ground, flat on his back and apparently unconscious. Sheppard let out a relieved sign and went to the Lieutenant's side, probably to check if he was all right.

However, not everyone seemed to share the Colonel's relief: McKay glanced at Ford nervously and back off a bit while Ronon simply glared at the Lieutenant, his displeasure obvious. Teyla could understand the Satedan's reaction, considering that Ronon hadn't known Aiden before his addiction and what had happened the last time they had met.

Herself, she had very mixed feelings about this reunion. After having experienced the effects of the enzyme herself, she had started to doubt if it was possible to wean Aiden off it without killing him. Nevertheless, she would never give up on him and mark him as a hopeless case like Colonel Caldwell did, she simply cared too much for him to do so. She remembered him comforting her when she had discovered her connection to the Wraith, the first time she had considered being more than just friends with him. However, the siege had been no time to sort out your love life so she had decided to wait for less troubled days to consider a deeper relationship with him – or anyone else on Atlantis. Now this day seemed like several lifetimes ago and everything was different now due to the enzyme's disturbing effect on the soldier.

It tormented her to see how much the enthusiastic Lieutenant with the affinity for naming things had changed during the months of his addiction – becoming paranoid, ruthless and convinced that his addiction was the best thing that had ever happened to him – and she could only hope that they would find a way to safe him.

"Ford?" she heard Sheppard say, "You there, buddy?"

The only response he got was a groan but at least Aiden stirred and started to regain consciousness. The Lieutenant opened his eyes and seemed rather confused, not instantly recognizing the beaming Colonel who knelt over him. However, recognition came swiftly and Teyla was as shocked as everyone else when Ford greeted Sheppard with a vicious uppercut that caused the other man to stagger backwards.

"Treacherous bastard!" Ford growled, getting back to his feet. "Did you think you could leave me on this dammed ship to die? Is this your way to thank me for saving your miserable life??"

"I didn't leave you behind, Ford," Sheppard said, wiping blood from his split lip. "You wanted to stay back and watch out retreat, remember?"

"That didn't mean that I'm suddenly able to get out of a flying ship without help and you knew that!" Aiden snarled. "I have tolerated your insubordination and petty intrigues long enough! Now, you'll pay for what you did to me!"

The Colonel opened his mouth to contradict but Aiden seemed done arguing and punched him into the stomach. Sheppard double over in pain but the Lieutenant didn't press his point. Instead, he grimaced in pain and had to lean onto his opponent to keep himself from falling. His anger seemed to vanish at the spot and he suddenly looked more confused than Teyla had ever seen him. Not paying Sheppard any further heed, he raised gingerly touched the back of his head, frowning in confusion when he touched the bandage that covered it. Teyla hadn't realized that he was hurt either – she had been too distracted by the fighting and hadn't had right point of view to see it – but now she noticed several other things she found odd about his appearance. All his weapons were gone as well as most of the clothing he had worn on their last mission together, leaving only his pants and the now sleeveless shirt he wore all the time.

He seemed to notice these changes too and looked both perplexed and infuriated about them.

"Where am I?" he asked, "What have you done to me?"

"Don't blame them, they are as ignorant of this mission as you are," Entreri interrupted. "I assume you know my companion, Acastus Kolya?"

"I thought you knew by now that messing with us is a really bad idea, Kolya!" Aiden stated, his eyes narrowing in contempt when they fell on the Genii Commander. "Obviously, I was wrong. What petty scheme do you have in store for us this time?"

Kolya seemed more than a little irritated by the Lieutenant's sudden cockiness while both Entreri and Colonel Sheppard struggled to suppress their smiles. Teyla didn't thought it wise to provoke the Genii like that but, on the other hand, Sheppard did it all the time and still lived to tell the tale.

"Even if you're not Sheppard's spineless lapdog anymore, you should know that it's not wise to provoke someone who outguns you and holds one of your comrades captive!" the Commander replied with a pointed look into Lorne's direction.

Aiden's expression remained completely neutral when his gaze fell on the bound Lorne and Teyla wondered if he actually cared about the Major's life. After all, he was a stranger for him and since his addiction he had shown little interest in the welfare of others. The old Aiden would never sacrifice someone to safe himself but she wasn't sure if the enzyme had obliterated this principle.

"Maybe so," the renegade soldier said, "provided you care about the person in question."

Both Sheppard and Teyla gasped at this statement and even Kolya seemed a bit disquieted about the Lieutenant's harsh point of view. Ford watched their expressions carefully and Teyla thought she saw the ghost of a smile on his lips – though she had no idea what might be amusing about the current situation.

"Don't worry, I'll play along in your little scheme," he said after some time. "After all, our position might be swapped. What exactly do you want me to do for you?"

"He's right Kolya," Sheppard agreed, "it's about time that you tell us what we have to do to get Lorne back. And I want all the facts this time, not some vague tidbits about a downed Wraith ship!"

"With your permission, Commander, I would like to enlighten our friends," Entreri volunteered, waiting respectfully for Kolya's nod before continuing. "I have already told you that we were fortunate enough to take some Gith capture which provided us with some invaluable information in exchange for their lives. After serving them for millennia, the Gith have a unique understanding of Wraith technology and informed us that there is a special data storage device on the bridge of every greater Wraith ship. These devices contain all the knowledge the respective ship has collected, including the position of the other ships in the galaxy, the strength of the different hives and, most importantly, blueprints for all major Wraith ships. I assume you know how valuable on of these could be for us."

"And we're supposed enter the ship, kill every Wraith we find and bring you on of them, right?" Sheppard asked rhetorically, "is that all or do you need something else?"

"You'll fly us back, of course," the Hidden One answered smoothly, choosing to ignore the sarcasm. "Originally, you were only supposed to bring us here but I convinced Kolya that it would be safer to let you bring us the storage device – for us that is, not for you. As soon as we're safely back on another planet with the repository, you're free to go."

"And how do we know we have the right device?" McKay asked, "there are probably dozens of these flash memories on board of the cruiser!"

"According to my sources, it looks different than the others," Entreri responded. "It's a vaguely tear-shaped, bluish crystal, easily to distinguish from the more common version in my opinion. The ship is about a mile in this direction, get moving now; you know all you need to know!"

When she turned to follow her comrades, the disturbing feeling she had felt earlier returned but this time she wasn't sure if the source of discomfort was Entreri or Aiden.

- - - - -

"I don't like the look of this!" McKay stated, looking at the remains of the Wraith ship.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Sheppard agreed. "Looks far too much like the last downed ship we explored!"

Aiden vaguely remembered the mission they talked about, though the only unpleasant memories he connected it with was the mind-boggling boredom of flying sixteen hours through space with nothing to occupy yourself. He probably had preferred fighting an ancient and surprisingly enduring Wraith to just traveling there, firing a single shot and heading back to Atlantis without actually seeing anything else than the vastness of space. However, he soon discarded this thought for there were more urgent things to think about.

One was his mysterious blackout and his even more enigmatic transport here, that had somehow stripped him of all his weapons. Judging from his raging headache, it had involved hitting him over the head with considerable strength – what was probably the reason for the blackout. Whoever had captured him had been stealthy enough to approach him undetected and strong enough to knock him out with a single strike – a rather remarkable achievement, considering the huge dose of enzyme that had been in his system. The fact that he had been brought here in a voidstone indicated that a Gith was behind it and he had been lucky to end up here instead within the City of Traitors. But if he had been dematerialized right back on the ship – provided that a Gith had managed to sneak on board – and rematerialized here, where had his clothes or weapons gone?

He knew that voidstones were able to recognize potential weapons or armors and rematerialize them separately from the rest, a security measure that had resulted into a viscous hand-to-hand combat between him and a Gith during his unintended visit on Shakuras. That time, his equipment had been stored into a nearby room but now it was nowhere to be found, what could only mean that he had been dematerialized without it. But why should a Gith disarm him before storing him in the crystal when the device did so automatically on Shakuras? Another thing that puzzled him was the bandage around his head for the Gith weren't known for their kindness and probably wouldn't treat his wounds unless they were life threatening – provided that they still needed him. It was hard to tell without a proper examination but he was certain that the wound was several days old and that the bandage wasn't made of the bluish cloth the Gith used. That meant that he had somehow escaped from the hive ship, injured his head in the process and had been awake for a few days before being captured by the Gith.

However, he had no recollection at all about these days and concentrating on it only seemed to intensify his headache, so he decide to concentrate on the present and solve this mystery later.

"The lifesign detector shows no Wraith nearby," McKay said, "unless they're hibernating, it should be safe to go inside. But we should be careful; the crash was probably not severe enough to kill the whole crew!"

"Let's hope that it didn't destroy the crystal Kolya wants," Sheppard replied, "otherwise it will be very difficult to get Lorne back."

"When are we going to strike?" Ronon asked as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"I don't know yet," the Colonel admitted, looking a bit compunctious. "They no longer outnumber us but I doubt we can overpower them without getting Lorne killed and I'm not yet desperate enough him to sacrifice him. In the worst case we'll simply play along and hope that he keeps his promise."

"Do you think he'll let us go once we've delivered the crystal?" Teyla asked doubtfully.

"Let's just hope it doesn't come to this!" Ford's former CO said and approached the shady entrance that led to the inside of the ship. The others followed him reluctantly, obviously not too eager to risk their lives to help the Genii. Aiden himself saw the upside of stumbling around in a Wraith ship – his enzyme supply had vanished together with his jacket and this would be a welcome opportunity to refill it. It might be a little bit more complicated than usual for the only weapon he had was a Wraith stunner – apparently Sheppard didn't trust him enough to give him a weapon that could cause permanent damage – but he was quite confident that he would manage.

Sheppard suspicion didn't even anger him, after all their reunion hadn't started very well and it wasn't like it wasn't justified. At the moment, he was torn between loyalty to his old team and the burning desire to make them pay for abandoning him. They had killed his men simply out of spite and left him to die after he had saved their skin! He admitted that his plan might have had some flaws but hadn't he made up for it? And shouldn't they pay for what they did to him?

However, something made him hesitate: despite everything that had happened in the last month, he still cared for his former comrades – except for Ronon, perhaps, who was just a stranger with a definitely messed-up hairstyle for him. Additionally, he knew that should he betray them now, he could probably never return to Atlantis – if he hadn't crosses that point already – which would mean that he would never see Earth again. Even after all they had done, he didn't feel reckless enough to risk this.

"Are you all right, Aiden?" Teyla asked, "you seem a little distracted!"

Her voice jerked Aiden back to the present and he realized that they were standing into a vast circular room somewhere within the Wraith ship. He had been so lost in thoughts that he hadn't even noticed that they were moving but now he suddenly became aware of a sickly sweet smell that indicated death and decay.

"I'm just feeling a bit dizzy, probably because of this," he said, indicating his injured head. "But I'll be okay, the enzyme should take care of it!"

"Look at this!" Ronon shouted from another part of the room, turning a limp body around with his foot.

The body turned out to be a man's corpse, withered and dried out, clearly the victim of a Wraith's appetite. At first Aiden thought he had been one of the poor souls that the Wraith kept as living provisions on their ship but a closer view made him rethink this theory. The man was dressed in what looked like Wraith armor with a bloodied claw decorating his torso, a symbol Ford instantly recognized and which could mean only one thing – trouble.

"A Lifestealer!" Sheppard said. "And I had hoped we'd never see one again!"

"Oh, no, now we're really screwed!" McKay said, indicating some characters on the Lifestealer's uniform. "You see that? That's High Gith, a language quite similar to the Ancient's and I think this patch tells us the name of the ship. My High Gith is a little patchy but I think it means _Predator_!"

Aiden allowed himself a small smile about the strange twists of fate: of all Wraith ship in this galaxy they explored _Predator,_ the ship of Commander Gix, Belbe's former master and easily the most dangerous Wraith Aiden had ever met. He remembered fighting him in the Door to Nothingness, an experience he had barely survived and wasn't eager to relive. His comrades – except Ronon who had never been on Shakuras – seemed to share this feeling for they nervously glanced around, probably searching for traces of the Wraith Commander.

"But how is this possible?" McKay asked, no one in particular, "Didn't Veldrin use the Ray Cannon to destroy _Predator_ during the Gith uprising? It should have been blasted into a million pieces, not lying largely intact on another planet!"

"He tried but it didn't work out as planned," Sheppard remembered, "Gix escaped but it looks like he didn't get very far. Let's find Kolya's crystal and get the hell out of here before we ran into that Wraith maniac again!"

"That might be easier said than done," Rodney stated, indicating a closed door a few meters away. "See that door? It looks different from any others I have seen and I'll have to find a way to open it before we can explore the rest of the ship! It seems like you need some kind of key to open it but I haven't found no idea what it might be. Perhaps I can deactivate the locking mechanism but that will take some time!"

"Don't bother, I know what to do," Aiden said, dropping to one knee and starting to search the Gith. "We need a certain signet to open it and I'm pretty sure that our friend here had one – got it!"

He showed the others a small, roughly-hewn onyx and completely featureless disc before laying it into a fitting recess next to the door. It slid open immediately, revealing a vast octagonal room cramped with boxes and illuminated by the disturbing blue light common on Wraith ships. Unlike the rest of the ship, this room was almost completely undamaged by the crash what was probably the reason why it had been made a storage area.

"Looks like the survivors stored everything that could be retrieved here," McKay said, "perhaps we can find the data crystal here!"

"Ok, let's split up and see if we can find it," Sheppard replied, "McKay, Ford you take that side, Teyla and me will search this one and Ronon will watch our backs! Be careful and stay together, the surviving crew must be around somewhere and I doubt they will be happy to see us!"

Aiden was just rummaging a crate that held Gith stun grenades when he noticed that McKay kept throwing nervous glances at him, a habit that he found more than a little irritating. However, he could understand the astrophysicist's nervousness, after all he had used him as a death pledge the last time they had met to put his devastating plan to destroy a hive ship into effect. Nevertheless, he just couldn't stand feeling his eyes on his back every few seconds and decided to do something against it.

"Relax, McKay," he said, "I'm not going to kill you anytime soon – at least as long as you don't shoot at me again!"

"Big surprise that I'm nervous after being held hostage by your men while you led the rest of my team onto a suicide mission!" the scientist snapped.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that, the whole let's-blow-up-a-hive-ship thing didn't work out as planned," Aiden replied. "I hope Sheppard got you out before my men tried to kill you because they thought you had betrayed us."

"Actually, I had to beat the crap out of them to free myself while you were stuck in the Hive ship," McKay responded, looking both mollified and pleased with himself.

"You beat the crap out of my men?" Ford snorted, convinced that the astrophysicist was pulling his leg.

"Sure I did, I mean I had to take a vast dose of enzyme which almost killed me but that was all the help I got," Rodney replied while searching another crate.

"How vast?" Aiden asked with the distinct feeling that something was horrible wrong.

"One of the big bottles stored in this cupboard of yours," the astrophysicist said, "Why are you asking?"

A whole bottle of enzyme, a dose high enough to make even some as harmless as McKay to a dangerous enemy, a dose not even Aiden would ever take in one sweep. He was surprised that the scientist had survived the various side effects and worried about his men. With such a high dose of enzyme in his system it was possible that McKay had killed them without even knowing it, a thought that devastated him. He realized that he had assumed all the time that at least these two had survived, that they were waiting for him and that no matter how messed up things became with his former team, he had somewhere to go. But Sheppard and the others had killed every single one of them, denying him an own team, a sanctuary, a new home. Something snapped inside of him T that moment and every scruple he might have had vanished, becoming instantly replaced by intensive desire to make them pay for their betrayal.

"Ford?" McKay asked, "Is everything ok?"

Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon chose this very moment to join them, whether attracted by the scientist's voice or just out of coincidence, Aiden didn't know and didn't care – all that mattered now was his revenge. He grabbed one of the Gith stun grenades and detonated it right in his hand before anyone of them could stop him. The remaining enzyme in his blood stream prevented him from being paralyzed while his former teammates dropped unceremoniously to the ground. He calmly snatched Sheppard's tac vest and his P90 as well as the lifesign detector McKay had used earlier, knowing that it would take a few minutes before they could move again. He chuckled at the expression of utter surprise at Sheppard's face and answered his unspoken question:

"You want to know why I'm doing this, don't you?" he asked rhetorically. "This is the payback for all you did to me! You sabotaged my mission, killed all my men and left me for dead on a dammed hive ship! I thought I could forgive you but that changed when this worthless excuse for a scientist told me that he had run rampage in my hideout while we were away. What would you think if I killed everyone on Atlantis except you just out of spite or maybe to force you to follow me? I should kill you for this, but I think I'll show you the same mercy you have shown me!"

He noticed that Sheppard's hand had started to creep towards the pistol on his belt –apparently the effect of the stun grenade was starting to wear off – and quickly detonated another one. He caught Teyla's eyes and for a fleeting moment he felt something like regret but he was far beyond the point of no return now.

"I will leave you here, locked up in a Wraith ship while I'll take care of Kolya!" he continued, "the Jumper will get me off this dammed planet and you'll be stuck here! But don't worry, I'll come back to you in a month or so; if you're still alive than you may join me! Goodbye then, I'm pretty sure we'll meet again."

Without another word, Aiden turned around and used the onyx disc to lock the door behind him


	3. Changes of Plan

Chapter 3: Changes of Plan

_We spent almost an entire year decoding the genetic code of the energy beings, convinced that it would answer the many things we still didn't know about this life form. It turned out that 99 percent of their DNA was identical to ours, a revelation that arose as much questions as it answered. If these creatures had really been once humanoid, what had changed them to an energy-based life form? How could a single gene have such a vast impact, changing not only some minor biological attribute but the whole physical structure of a being? And, most importantly, could we synthesize the specific gene?_

––_Bioengineer Mortanius, Ascension Theory_

"Damn this little bastard!" McKay raged. "I'm used to him doing crazy things by now but trapping your friends into a downed Wraith ship is way above the line! Does anyone else realize how _screwed_ we are this time?"

"Get a grip Rodney," John said, "panicking won't help!"

"I'm not panicking; I'm just stating the facts and trying to figure out how exactly I'll murder Ford!" Rodney replied, not calming at all. "I'm done with your Ford-isn't-dangerous-and-we'll-get-him-back-not-matter-if-he-wants-it-or-not complex which up to now only managed to get us into trouble! Ford is too far gone to be helped and if you had realized this earlier, we wouldn't be stuck here, waiting for our certain and painful death!"

Under normal circumstances, John would have ignored the scientist, knowing that arguing with him would only make it worse. However, being backstabbed by a friend and left in a downed Wraith ship were by no means normal circumstances and he didn't have the self-control to ignore the accusations right now. McKay's remarks made his blood boil and he saw no reason to be diplomatic.

"So, you think that this is all my fault, right?" he snapped back. "Listen, you self-proclaimed genius, it would have never come so far if you had been smart enough not to tell him that you beat up his men! We wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't the empathy of a pineapple and thought before you open that big mouth of yours!"

"How exactly can a fruit have empathy?" Telya inquired only to be interrupted by Rodney.

"Maybe I was a bit careless but that wouldn't have mattered if you hadn't assigned me to work with him!" the astrophysicist countered. "We have never got along very well and since he's on this dammed drug, he's been trying to kill me at a regular base – but in Sheppard's world that seems to be the perfect prerequisite to work together!"

"He seemed reasonable enough!" John retorted, "After all he could have flat-out refused to help us at all! But you're right it _was_ stupid of me to forget how incredibly arrogant, obnoxious and insensitive you can be!"

"Perhaps we might forget our dissensions for some time and concentrate on finding out what to do next," Teyla suggested, obviously trying to cut the argument short.

"The only thing we'll do in the near future is trying and probably failing miserably not to die!" Rodney said, the anger in his voice now replaced by frustration and panic. "Ford took the onyx disc and my lifesign detector, so I can neither open the door nor bypass the security system that locks it! I could simply cut into the wall at a venture but virtually everything could happen – and when I say everything I mean everything from nothing at all, over opening to door to triggering an explosion that rips us to shreds!"

"How high are the chances for you to fix it without blowing us up?" Ronon inquired, voicing the question that was also on John's mind right now.

"Am I a crystal ball?" the scientist asked, before a well-placed glare of both Ronon and John told him that he should better answer the question if he wanted to avoid physical harm.

"Well, there is no way to be sure, but I guess they're about one in a thousand – not too bad compared with the other things I've done – but I might blow us up with every try! Usually nothing short of a minor short circuit might happen but most of the equipment around us is more or less explosive and would probably ignite should I screw it up! So do yourself a favor and don't distract me while I'm working because I'll need every part of my vast intellect not to get us killed!"

"You want to try it even though the chances are one in a thousand?" Teyla asked doubtfully. "Are you sure about this?"

"Considering the only alternative is to be trapped here with an unknown number of Wraith who are only waiting to suck the life out of me, yes, I'm sure!" Rodney responded. "I don't know about you but I prefer getting blown up to falling into their clutches!"

Sheppard now had enough of the scientist's panic behavior and thought that the last thing he would let him do now was tinkering with sensible technology.

"You're panicking again, Rodney," he stated as calmly as he could. "We have survived worse situations and we'll find a way out of this mess too but only if you calm down and stop jumping to the first solution you can think of!"

Teyla mumbled words of agreement and their words seem to put an end to the scientist's hysteria. He stepped back from the door and seemed to think about the situation for some time, apparently silently realizing that they were right and he had made a mistake – something rarely happened to Rodney both because he was nothing less than brilliant and didn't value other people's opinions very much.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I reacted that way," he said, "I guess just too many bad things happened in the last hours. You're right; we'll find a way out of here!"

"Glad you're back to normal – even if normal means that you're one of the most annoying persons I've ever met!" John replied, giving him a reassuring smile. "You still think that hacking into the door is a good idea?"

"No, not really, unless you're feeling particularly reckless today," the scientist stated, giving the door another look, "I hate to admit it but I simply don't know enough to get us out of here without relying on luck!"

"Well, luck isn't on our side today, so I guess we should just drop this idea," the Colonel responded, "Any other suggestions?"

"Simple," Ronon said, "we explore the rest of the ship, kill all the Wraith we find and search for another exit – or another way to open the door! I'm sure there are more than one of those onyx discs Ford used, all we have to do is to find them!"

John thought that the Satedan made this sound way too simple but, not having any other ideas, he voiced his agreement and followed him through a corridor that led deeper into the interior of _Predator_. The ship was damaged more severely here and often they had the unsettling impression that the ceiling would come down on them any second. Gix and his crew were nowhere to be found, what meant that either these corridors had been empty at the time of the crash, everyone had survived in here and simply walked away or that someone had cleaned up the bodies. Wandering through the ruined cruiser, John felt his mind wander to his former second-in-command, who had played a critical role in the scheme that had caused Gix to crash-land here.

He still wanted to bring the Lieutenant back but maybe Caldwell and Rodney were partially right and he had done it wrong all the time. He had tried reasoning or tricking Ford into coming back to Atlantis but none of the above had worked out. During each encounter there had been some time when he had seemed quite reasonable and back to his own self but these phases never seemed to last long enough to actually change something. Nevertheless, they were a wild glimmer of hope, the slight possibility that everything could be as it was and this faint promise was the only thing that prevented John from giving up the Lieutenant as almost everyone else on Atlantis had done.

However, the events of the last hour hadn't left him unaffected and if Ford had been in reach at that time, he doubted he would be able _not_ to beat him to pulp. The more rational part of his mind kept reminding him that the Lieutenant wasn't thinking straight and couldn't be blamed for his actions, what was probably the only thing that kept him from bursting with rage. He made the silent vow that, the next time they met, he wouldn't bother arguing with his former second-in-command. Instead, he would just knock him out with whatever was convenient at the moment, tie him up and drag him back to Atlantis where Beckett would take care of him. Though not very subtle, this scheme was all he had left and he was pretty sure that Ford would thank him once he was back to his old, bouncy self. The sight of the corridor they walked in widening into a huge, circular chamber pulled him back to the present and reminded him that he had other problems at the moment.

"At the risk of stating the blindingly obvious, I would say that we have found the bridge," McKay said matter-of-factly. "Let's hope that the crystal Kolya wants is still here and that the impact hasn't broken it!"

John considered this rather unlikely for the room had definitely seen better times: most of the consoles were broken and inert, rubble was laying everywhere and some parts of the ceiling didn't look very trustworthy anymore. Though he had no idea what it was made of, he thought that nothing short of a miracle could have preserved the crystal in this chaos. Again, there was a strange absence of bodies, what for some reason made him feel more uncomfortable than the presence could ever have.

"Ok, search for the dammed crystal," he ordered, turning around to face his team, "but stay together and be careful! I have a bad feeling about this!"

"Let's check this out first!" McKay, pointing to something right behind John's right shoulder and not bothering to wait for anyone to respond before moving towards it.

Sheppard turned around to see what had raised the scientist's interest and was kind of disappointed when it turned out to an ornate chair right in the center of the room.

"What's so interesting about an old piece of furniture?" he asked, easily catching up to the astrophysicist.

"This 'piece of furniture' is probably the Wraith equivalent of a control chair what makes it not only scientifically interesting but also the first place to go if you're searching for a data storage device!" Rodney responded, shaking his head in irritation. "Seriously, Colonel, for a prodigy with Ancient technology you have an unusual ignorance for recognizing advanced technology when it's right before you nose! It might not be as delicate and shiny as the ones on Atlantis but that doesn't mean. . ."

John never learned what exactly that didn't mean for at that moment Teyla interrupted them, looking more than a little alarmed by something:

"There is something you should see, Colonel," she said and was off again, not giving him the chance to reply. John threw a questioning glance at Rodney who responded with a shrug that probably meant 'How am I supposed to know what she meant?' before following the Athosian. After a few steps into her direction, his gaze fell on the Wraith control chair and he suddenly knew what troubled Teyla.

From his new point of view, he could see that the chair was by no means as empty as he had assumed it was. A withered human body laid slumped on the seat, clearly as much the victim of a Wraith appetite as the Gith they had found earlier. However, there was something very odd about this human for his arms didn't end in hands but in wicked-looking, Wraith-like claws. John felt his stomach clench and an odd throbbing pain started in his left arm when he realized that he had seen claws like that before – as body parts of Crovax, the former Evincar of Shakuras who had almost killed him during Belbe's coup d'état.

"What the hell?" he said, leaning forward to closer examine the man's twisted face. "Is that Crovax?"

"I think so, Colonel," Teyla replied, "apparently his flight from Shakuras wasn't very successful!"

The body was in quite a bad shape but the former Evincar's former facial features were striking enough – it really was Crovax' dead body that was lying sprawled out over the chair. John was by no means sad to learn from his demise but he wondered who could have been strong and ruthless enough to kill him. Crovax had been a capable fighter and would probably defeat any Wraith in an open fight, what meant someone of his crew had backstabbed him.

"Wait," McKay said, "do you hear this?"

John listened intently for a moment but heard nothing but the steady breathing of his comrades. Judging from the puzzled looks they sent the astrophysicist, Teyla and Ronon hadn't heard anything either, while Rodney seemed to grow more nervous any second.

"Something is wrong here," he whispered, looking around feverishly. "I think we're not alone!"

"And you're right little human," an icy voice from above said, "for I am here!"

Every one of them looked up simultaneously and saw a Wraith hanging on the ceiling, who looked down of them the same way a spider might look at a fly. To John he looked like any other Wraith but Rodney seemed to recognize him and looked outright shocked.

"Oh my god," he gasped, "that's Gix!"

- - - - -

Aiden felt oddly relieved when he stepped back into the light, even though the days when he had been afraid of the dark where almost 20 years past. Nevertheless, it was as if a great burden had been lifted off him and things had become easy again. Away from his former team, his thoughts were more structured and not nearly as conflicted, enabling him to focus on the here and now. He briefly wondered if they would be okay before discarding the thought again – he had other things to sort out at the moment.

Despite what he had said within _Predator_ – where he had sounded utterly sure of himself – he had no idea how exactly he would take out Kolya and get hold of the Jumper. Brute force probably wouldn't do, for the Genii both outmanned and outgunned him and stealth wasn't an option either, since the only available cover was the grass, which was not nearly high enough. Besides, he wasn't exactly in best shape, his headache keep getting stronger and he was completely out of enzyme, meaning that it would be only a question of time until the withdrawal weakened him further.

He guessed that he would have to use his cunningness which – despite what McKay might say about it – had come up with some quite impressive plans in the past. Thinking of the annoying astrophysicist sparked a thought and he suddenly knew how he would get rid of Kolya. Once the Genii were out of the picture, he would take the Jumper and return to his former hideout, what probably would be more difficult than it sounded. He had taken the gene therapy only a few weeks before the siege and hadn't had much time practicing using Ancient technology. Activating a lifesign detector worked just fine but flying a Jumper was a whole different matter – what had been the reason why he had abandoned the one he stole on Atlantis. However, staying here was not an option, so he just would have to try it – after all, he only had to reach the 'gate, not shooting his way through a Wraith fleet and Sheppard did it all the time, it couldn't be _that_ hard.

Ford went over his plan for one more time and realized that he had forgotten one important detail: Kolya's prisoner, the soldier whose name he hadn't quite caught – though he was pretty sure it started with an 'L'. So what should he do with this L guy once he had taken care of the Genii? Of course, he could trust him even less than Teyla and the others, so perhaps the best way was to dump him here along with them. But maybe he could come in handy; after all it was always better not to work alone. Possibly he could let him fly the Jumper, what wouldn't be too much of a risk, provided that he dialed the 'gate himself and had a gun within reach all the time. Once they had passed the event horizon, he might recruit the other soldier for his new team – or sent him back to Atlantis should he turn out to be as stubborn and narrow-minded as his former teammates.

Nevertheless, he made a mental note not to take any chances, saving the guy was a secondary goal at best and if things got ugly, it would be more than reckless to concentrate on anything else than saving your own hide. A sly smile spread on his face when he absently patted the small sphere that played a crucial role in his plan.

Kolya wouldn't know what had hit him.

- - - - -

Somewhere else

Conscious returned suddenly and for a moment Belbe had no idea where she was. Then everything came back and she noticed contently that everything had worked exactly as planned. She had rematerialized in one of the ship's holding cells along with several of the planet's natives who – unlike her – had been knocked out by the Wraith transporter. She paid them now heed when she removed the now blackened brooch from her armor and tucked it back into her cloak. The stress from absorbing the stunning effect of the dematerialization beam had caused the device to burn out and she regretted not having a spare one when turning invisible again. The cell door proved no match for a minor explosive she carried with her – as usual the Wraith showed an astonishing ignorance to internal security. Before the smoke had lifted, she had slipped into the corridor and started her search for the Dart Bay.

Infiltrating a hive ship was more then a little risky but it was the only way to get what Veldrin wanted: an intact and fully functional Wraith Dart for the Sentinels to play with. Not for the first time, she wondered if the possible gain of stealing technology from the Wraith was worth the effort but unfortunately Veldrin didn't have these doubts and was unwilling to accept any objections from her part, resulting in that nasty ultimatum he had set her. She hated being treated like that and would really like to teach him a lesson about how to treat your closet ally – but only if there was a chance that she would be around to savor the experience later.

Working for people as ruthless and unforgiving as Veldrin – or Gix for that matter –, was quite easy as long as you proceeded with extreme care and didn't give them a reason to think they might be better off without you – a principle Belbe hadn't kept in mind the last time she had been on this mission. It had been almost exactly like this time: She had entered by hitching a ride from a Wraith Dart during a culling, broken open her cell and made her way to the Dart Bay, hoping to use the chaos of the initiating culling to steal one of the ships.

However, her well-laid plan had been shattered the moment when she had heard a very familiar voice cursing a blue streak – Aiden's voice. She had found him standing at the entrance of the Bay, looking for a ship to snatch and cursing Colonel Sheppard for abandoning him. At first she had toyed with the idea of continuing her mission and leaving him to rescue himself – after all he was almost as formidable as she was – but when the first explosions rocked the ship, she decided to intervene. Not wanting to waste time explaining her actions and reasoning with the rather upset-looking Lieutenant, she had approached Ford unseen, knocked him out, thrown him over her shoulder and hitched the very same Dart she had planned to bring Veldrin – which Aiden had been unable to see from his position.

This had been the moment when everything had started to get out of hand: For some reason, the two Hive Ships had suddenly become obsessed with the idea of obliterating each other and she had hardly managed to get out before they both exploded. Unfortunately, her Dart had been badly damaged by the explosion and she hardly managed to get through the 'gate without blowing herself up in the process. The crash landing that had followed had ruined all the chances of presenting an intact Wraith ship to Veldrin.

Surprisingly, both of them had survived it without any greater injuries but even so Aiden had been in a pretty bad shape. A quick examination showed her that her hit had been much harder than she had intended it to be, causing a serious concussion that would lay the renegade Lantean low for at least a few days. Cursing that a stunner wouldn't have worked on Aiden, she patched up his wound as good as she could and made her way towards a nearby settlement. She had picked their destination with care, addressing a small backwater planet whose inhabitants' primitive medicine was surprisingly effective.

More importantly, the planets lack of interesting technology made it completely uninteresting for Veldrin or any other Gith, marking it as the perfect place to hide something – or someone – from them. Belbe had been here several times and had known the natives wouldn't refuse her pledge for help. She had left Aiden within their care, covered all the tracks that might lead to this world and returned to Shakuras, giving the Evincar some vague excuse why she returned with empty hands.

Belbe jerked herself back into the present, determined not to fail twice on the same mission. This time, she reached the Dart Bay without incident, convinced one Wraith to lend her his ship by putting a dagger through his spine and joined a group of Darts that headed towards the planet. Unlike them, she didn't comb the planet for any remaining natives but hid her craft in the woods, knowing that they would keep the 'gate active until the culling was over to seal this possible way of escape. It was easier to disappear than she had expected, the Wraith were so focused on finding as much prey as possible that they hardly paid attention to what the rest of them was doing.

Once hidden, she calmly waited till the screams of the villagers as well as the howling of the Wraith ships had died away before raising her craft again and dialing the City of Traitors.

Veldrin would be pleased to have a new toy.

- - - - -

_Predator_

Rodney was pretty certain that this was the moment were his life couldn't get any worse, even thought it appeared to work very hard on finding a new way to do exactly that. By now, he was accustomed to bad things happening all the time but today fate seemed to have something really nasty in mind for him. It was not even midday and he had already been blackmailed and threatened as well as betrayed by a psychotic ex-teammate. Facing the most dangerous Wraith he had ever had the misfortune to meet, fitted into this line of unpleasant events perfectly, causing him to wonder when disaster would get tired of them and move to another target.

Ronon's followed his principle of answering every threat with brute force but Gix dodged his shots effortlessly and vanished back into the shadows, crackling insanely. Rodney was pretty certain that the Commander had lost what sanity he might have had since crashing here and didn't even want to think what would happen if they lost this fight.

"Not even close human!" he taunted from the shadows. "You will need much more than that if you want to defeat me! Let me give you a demonstration of my strength, just that you know what you're dealing with here!"

Gix wasted no time after this announcement and slammed right into the Satedan, causing his weapon to slip out of his grasp. Before Sheppard or Teyla could react, he jumped back into the shadows, flashing them a hideous, toothy grin in the process. Rodney's teammates sent several bullets after him but there was no way of telling if they had hit the Wraith or not. When they stopped firing, silence settled over the room like a heavy blanket, a silence that made McKay feel even more vulnerable and exposed – as far as this was possible. The others seemed to feel the same for each of them scanned nervously the shadows for a sign of the Wraith Commander. At least Ronon was back to his feet – even though he was looking quite bruised and favored his left side a bit – and had even managed to retrieve his gun what probably raised their chances a bit

"How can he move so fast?" Sheppard whispered. "I've never seen a Wraith who could cross a room as big as this one with a single jump!"

"Haven't you read my report about what happened in the City of Traitors?" Rodney asked equally quietly, "oh never mind, I think I know the answer already! He wears an exoskeleton which absorbs damage and enhances the strength of his muscles at the same time."

"Any idea how we might get rid of him?" the Colonel asked, glancing upwards between whispered words.

The astrophysicist found it extremely ironic that the only non-military member of the team should suddenly come up with a valid strategy but he answered nevertheless:

"Well, Ford had quite a hard time but the tide turned when he forced Gix into the melee. I guess our chances would be much higher if we took a page out of his book. Gix probably won't have a chance as soon as we got him on the ground!"

"Are you sure about that little human?" the Wraith's voice came from what seemed like right behind him. "Let me show you how wrong you are!"

Rodney was paralyzed in shock when the Commander dropped from the ceiling, using his momentum to knock Ronon back to the ground. This time, he didn't retreat but rebounded from a wall, slammed into Teyla and snatched the weapon from the dazed Athosian's grip. Keeping her lodged to the ground with one foot, he grabbed Sheppard by the throat and lifted the Colonel into the air, rendering him unable to do anything else than concentrating on drawing breath. Gix then turned to face Rodney and examined him carefully, recognition and sinister delight dawning in his eyes.

"It has been a while since our fight in the City of Traitors, hasn't it ….McKay?" he asked as if it was the most natural thing in the world to have a conversation in the middle of a melee. "How ironic that the same humans who played such a crucial role in the plot that caused me to be stuck her, are walking right into my new prison. A pity that you friend Ford isn't here, I would have liked a rematch but killing you will be just as satisfying, so no harm done!"

"What? It's not my fault you're stuck here!" Rodney said, even though arguing with the Wraith was probably a lost case, "Belbe forced us to help her! Besides if you hadn't attacked Panopticon, your ship would be lying here now!"

"Don't worry once I'm away from this thrice-dammed planet I will be happy to make sure that they share your fate," the Wraith replied, closing in on McKay, "but you have the misfortune of being here now while they are safely away on Shakuras! Besides I haven't forgotten your role in our battle in the Door to Nothingness and now the time for vengeance has come! Enjoy this moment, human, for only agony and death awaits you in the future!"

Rodney tried to get out of Gix's reach, hoping that the Commander would be unwilling to free Teyla just to get hold of him but he being trapped between a wall and his possible murderer rendered escape impossible. A part of his mind told him to get out his gun and try to buy some time for it couldn't be long till Ronon would come to his aid but the much larger part of his self was frozen in terror and unable to form a rational thought. He watched strangely impassively when Gix raised his free right hand – which still showed the scars from Ford's futile attempt to cut out the enzyme sac – and closed his eyes, waiting for death to come.

However, the strike he waited for never came: Instead a scream of pure outrage pierced the silence, followed by several very vile curses that snapped Rodney out of his stupor. When he opened his eyes, he saw that Gix and Ronon were engaged in a furious melee, surrounded by the inert – yet stirring – forms of Teyla and Sheppard. While the Colonel was busy with catching his breath, Teyla joined the fight and attacked the Wraith from behind, whom however seemed to anticipate her, blocking her attack absently without taking his eyes from the Satedan.

It seemed like Gix was quite able to defend himself against two opponents at once, avoiding or blocking most of the attacks they aimed at him and landing counter attacks whenever the opportunity arose. Even Rodney – who was far from being a tactical genius – knew that without a proper weapon there was no way to win this fight. Unfortunately, most the weaponry they had brought with them had been scattered in the vast chamber in the course of the fight, lost and out of reach. He still had his pistol – and probably some of the others had too – but what good was such a weapon against a foe that had such excellent protection and would regenerate anyway?

A sudden twinkle of light got his attention and he saw Ronon's remarkable energy pistol lying on the ground a few meters to his left, dangerously close to the melee. Apart from him only Sheppard seemed to take any notice of it – everyone else was way too distracted – and gestured him to go and pick it up – at least that was what Rodney thought he wanted; he never had gotten the knack with interpreting military gestures.

Trying to move fast and quietly at the same time, he walked towards the weapon and picked it up, constantly expecting to be attacked from behind. Seconds after he had retrieved it, he felt the tickling sensation of being watched and turned around to find the Wraith staring at him, his expression somewhere between fear and battle fury. Knowing that he had only seconds before the Commander would attack him he did the first thing that came to his mind – he tossed the weapon to John, hoping he would know what to do. Gix tried to catch the weapon but missed it by mere centimeters, leaving himself widely open in the process. Sheppard gave him no quarter and shot him thrice with Ronon's gun, ending his life within seconds.

"That was way too close in my opinion," he stated, handing the gun back to his owner. "Everyone all right?"

None of them turned out to be seriously hurt – even though Teyla and Ronon were quite badly bruised – but nevertheless they kept a wary eye on Gix while they searched the room for their discarded weapons, expecting the fight to continue any second.

"If I'm not very much mistaken – and seriously how are high the chances for this ever to happen? – we have found our ticket out of this mess," Rodney said, indicating the middle of Gix's inert form, where several items, including another onyx disc and the crystal Kolya wanted, had been attached to the Wraith's exoskeleton,

"Great, let's grab them and get the hell out of here," John said, "I hope Ford hasn't put his insane plan into action yet!"

- - - - -

Ford approached Kolya as unthreatening as possible, trying to delay the outbreak of the fight that would inevitably follow until he could put his plan into motion. Brute force wasn't his weapon of choice this time, not when fighting an enemy that outnumbered and outgunned him and whose true potential – especially Entreri's – was unclear. So he had strapped his P90 to his back and hid the rest of his weaponry in his clothing, including the device that would make sure he won the coming battle. Nevertheless, the Genii seemed both alarmed and surprised to see him here.

"You have exactly 30 seconds to explain me what you are doing here, Ford!" Kolya said, obviously expecting some kind of trick – what ironically was exactly the thing Aiden had in mind.

"I thought I would bring you the crystal you wanted and get of this planet," he replied smoothly. "And don't worry about the others; they're quite tied up in something at the moment!"

The Genii Commander seemed completely nonplussed for a moment before the meaning of these seemingly innocent words sank in. Afterwards, his expression became unreadable, somewhere between delight, disappointment and barely contained mistrusted. Entreri, however, was grinning broadly, enjoying the betrayal his words indicated far more than Aiden himself.

"This doesn't make us to friends or allies, Kolya," he stated, "it was a personal thing and I won't give you any more details. Take the crystal and get us away from this godforsaken planet!"

"And what should happen to Major Lorne?" Kolya asked, apparently smart enough not to press the topic. "Do you want me to leave him here?"

Aiden turned and found the other soldier staring at him, outrage and horror obvious in his eyes. He probably thought Ford had lost it completely, but Aiden didn't care enough to mind. Nevertheless, Lorne never had betrayed him so he had no reason to leave him here.

"He'll come with us and is free to return from Atlantis, once we're on another planet," he stated, noticing the rather disappointed expression on Entreri's face – probably Kolya's second-in-command had already made up his mind what to do with the Major and Aiden really didn't want to know what exactly this might be.

"Very well," the Commander said, "may I get my crystal then?"

The Lieutenant opened one of the pockets of his tac vast but instead of the crystal the Genii wanted – which was as far as he knew, still somewhere within _Predator_ – it contained another Wraith stun grenade which he activated quickly. The energy passed through him without any effect but everyone else was stunned and knocked to the ground. He pressed his advantage and used his Wraith stunner to take out the two Genii that guarded Lorne, simply because they were better armed than Entreri and Kolya – who obviously hadn't expected to find themselves in the middle of a melee.

Turning around, he fired another stunner on Entreri – who was already back to his feet, apparently the effect of the stun grenade had already worn off – and was totally perplexed when the shot passed right trough the Genii. Instead of being stunned, he simply faded into nothingness, like a dream after waking – what caused Aiden to rapidly question his sanity. Kolya took advantage of his distraction and tackled him, causing both men to go down in a tangle of limbs. Too surprised to defend himself properly, the Lieutenant suddenly found himself flat on his back with a Genii knife pressed to his throat.

"That was your last mistake!" Kolya snarled. "I guess I won't get my crystal now but killing you and leaving the others here to die will be just as satisfying! Entreri said he also has the Ancient gene so we'll get of this planet while you and your comrades will rot here!"

"I'm not dead yet!" Aiden replied, trying to push the knife away from him. "And I certainly won't die to you!"

Bringing his superior strength to bear, he slowly began to get the upper hand, twisting the knife away from his throat and trying to get the Genii of him.

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Entreri fumbling with what his weapon expert mind instantly identified as a grenade. Cursing, he kicked Kolya of him, grabbed his stunner, which had been fallen to the ground in the melee, and shot the other Genii, hoping the weapon to be more effective than the last time. Whatever had protected Entreri previously, failed to save him at this occasion but he had already thrown the device when the stunner stroke true.

It hit the ground a few meters behind him but instead of the expected explosion an icy wave hit his back, draining almost all the warmth from his body. For a few moments everything was blurred and the only sensation he had was the bitter cold around him that numbed his muscles and made moving close to impossible.

After what seemed like an eternity at least some warmth had returned to his extremities, enabling to get up shakily, still chilled to the bone. He saw that the whole area around the Jumper was now coated with ice and everyone too close to the detonation had been shock-frosted by Entreri's device – including Kolya. Lorne was no where to be found but Aiden assumed that the Major – whose name he remembered by now – had also been reduced to an icicle by the explosion.

"A really diabolical weapon!" he said to no one in particular.

"Thank you," Dalamar said while pressing a gun to the back of his head, "I'm also quite fond of it!"

"What? How is this possible?" Aiden asked, totally perplexed by the Genii's sudden recovery. "I saw you getting hit!"

"Perception is a curious thing, everyone relies on it, yet it can be so easily swayed," Entreri responded, "you only believed that I was there and never hit me in the first place. For the sake of avoiding repetition, I changed the second illusion slightly so it appeared to be hit. In reality, I stood a few meters to its left, counting on you to be competent enough not to hit me with a stray stunner. The only thing that didn't work out as planned is that you should be shock frosted by now but seems like I'm going to win anyway!"

"Get it over with then!" the Lieutenant said, "I'm sure Kolya would be proud of you if he hadn't been turned into a snowflake by your grenade!"

"He was only a means to an end anyway, I serve a far greater master!" his captor stated. "Originally, I only wanted the crystal but you're petty rebellion – amusing as it was – ruined everything. So I guess it's time for a slight change of plan: I'm going to take both you and the Jumper back to my superiors and simply hope for the best. Now, get into the Jumper and don't try anything unless. . ."

A stunner interrupted Entreri at this point and Aiden was surprised to find Major Lorne to be both alive and his savior. The soldier's left arm was covered in rime and hung limply on his side but otherwise he seemed unaffected by the Genii's ice weapon. Ford wondered what would happen now, after all he Lorne knew that he had betrayed the others and was probably either eager to rescue them or out for his blood – options that the Lieutenant wasn't very fond of. Just in case, he carefully bent down and retrieved Entreri's pistol, expecting the other soldier to stop him any moment. When Lorne didn't raise any protests, he really began to wonder what his unwilling rescuer was up to.

He got his answer a few moments later when a very hard object connected with the back of his head. His knees buckled and his constant headache returned from the edge of his consciousness as pure agony. Lorne was saying something but his words were lost in the haze of pain that dulled his senses. He tried to form a straight thought, to fight back the unconscious that threatened to overwhelm him but he was fighting a losing battle. The ground came up to meet him and everything became black.

- - - - -

Teyla and the others crossed the distance between _Predator_ and the Jumper at top speed, knowing that time was crucial if they ever wanted to leave this planet again. Should Ford have already defeated Kolya and left in the Jumper, they would be stuck here with no way to contact Atlantis. In that case, all they could do was waiting for him to get back to his senses and come for them – something that might never happen. The Athosian still remembered how cold and filled with hatred Aiden had sounded when he had left them and for the first time she really considered him lost.

She didn't know how Colonel Sheppard felt about this but if she had to, she wouldn't hesitate to cut him down – or at least she hoped she would be strong enough to do so. She hadn't made this decision easily and a part of her still felt like she was betraying her friend, not matter how hard she tried to quash these doubts.

"We're almost there," John said, "we should see the Jumper any moment – if it's still there!"

They were now at the edge of the crater _Predator's_ impact had left, the only part of this planet that wasn't flat and covered with golden grass. Bracing themselves for the worst, they climbed out of the depression and began scanning the lowlands for any sign of Ford, the Genii or the Jumper. There was no sight of Kolya or the Lieutenant but the ship they had been looking for still rested on the endless plain.

Not knowing if the absence of the Genii was a good or a bad sign, Teyla and the others approached swift but carefully, expecting an ambush with every step. Strangely enough it seemed to become colder every step and next to the Jumper the grass glittered silvery as if coated with rime.

"Well either there has been a cold snap while we've been away or something strange is going on here," Sheppard stated, "Any idea what this might mean, Rodney?"

"I'm an astrophysicist not a meteorologist, Colonel," McKay responded, "Seriously; do you expect me to have an explanation for everything?"

"Could it been a natural phenomenon?" Teyla asked before an argument could unfold, "perhaps the nights are very cold here."

"Then the whole lowland would look like that but only the area around the Jumper is affected," Rodney argued, "I'm pretty certain we can rule out a natural cause, I just have no other explanation for it yet!"

"Maybe I've found one for you," Ronon, who had taken point said, "it's a weapon!"

What had led the Satedan to this conclusion became obvious when Teyla and the others saw the gruesome sight of three frozen bodies scattered around the Jumper. They recognized Kolya and the two soldiers he had brought along, while Entreri laid a few meters away from the others, apparently untouched by whatever had killed his comrades. There was no sight of Aiden or Major Lorne.

"Do you think Aiden did this?" Teyla asked who felt that not even Kolya had deserved being frozen alive.

"Well, I doubt the Wraith have this kind of technology, it wouldn't fit to their strategy of capturing humans alive but it's definitely far too advanced to be of Genii origin," McKay contemplated. "Which means that unlike he had a piece of alien technology up his sleeve all the time, I doubt Ford has turned them into frozen food!"

"Maybe Entreri and Kolya had a really serious disagreement and one of them had such a weapon at hand," John mused. "Not that they didn't deserve it. Anyway, let's check out the Jumper! If Lorne or Ford are in there we might get some answers!"

Silence greeted them when they got inside the Ancient spaceship and for a moment Teyla was reminded of the empty corridors within _Predator_, a mental image that was far from appealing. However, this sensation vanished when they entered the cockpit, encountering an unconscious Aiden and a delirious Major Lorne.

"You can't believe how good it feels to see you, sir" Lorne said weakly, "I thought I was going to die here!"

"Don't worry Lorne; we will have you back in Atlantis in no time," John replied, "Teyla check on Ford while I get this baby back into the air!"

After a moment of hesitation, Teyla obeyed the command, afraid to find out that Aiden was already dead. He looked worse than she had ever seen him: blood run dripped from a laceration on the back of his head, a great part of him was covered in rime and his breathing had either stopped or was too weak for her to hear from a distance. Given the circumstances, she was both surprised and relieved when she pressed two fingers against his carotid artery, feeling a slow but steady pulse.

"He is alive but barely" she told the Colonel who had watched the whole affair with an unusual tension written on his face.

Telya heard John's sigh of relive and when the Jumper started moving she allowed herself to fall for the comforting illusion called hope. Hope that everything would be as it was.

- - - - -

Entreri awoke with a start and the distinct impression that something was horribly wrong yet he couldn't place his finger on what exactly caused this feeling. Groaning, he twisted himself so his face looked into the sky instead of being buried in frozen grass and almost suffered a heart attack when he saw who was standing above him.

"Long time no see, Entreri," Belbe said, "I'm sure the Evincar is already dying to hear your explanation!"


	4. Confusion in the Ranks

Chapter 4: Confusion in the Ranks

_Further examination of the energy beings' genetic code led us to an exciting new theory: the creatures' extraordinary capability to leave their physical existence behind seemed to be a highly advanced version of more common mental powers like telepathy or telekinesis. Even more importantly, there were several hints that indicated that this stage of development hadn't been reached by natural means. Ironically, the basically successful experiment seemed to have stripped its creators of almost all intelligence, a flaw we planned to avoid when replicating the therapy _

_––Bioengineer __Mortanius__, Ascension Theory_

All Aiden felt when he started to regain conscious was pain. Searing, agonizing pain that blotted out any other sensations. It felt as if every nerve in his body was on fire but he found himself unable to even squirm in pain for every muscle he possessed seemed cramped and useless. The agony disorientated him and for some time he had no idea who or where he was, all that mattered was the pain that would hopefully fade soon

The seizure ended so abruptly that he wondered if he had had a nightmare. However, some of the burning pain remained – even thought it was not nearly as bad as it had been seconds before – what told him that the only cure for this affliction was a healthy dose of Wraith enzyme.

With the pain back to bearable levels he suddenly became aware of his surroundings: he was lying flat on his back on what felt like a bed in the Atlantis Infirmary. He now noticed several quiet voices close to his bed, voices that sounded very familiar. Feeling way too weak to open his eyes right now, Ford simply remained still and listened

"How is he, Dr. Beckett?"

"Well, I have managed to stabilize his body temperature and the laceration was not half as bad as it looked, so usually he should be right as rain soon. But what's worrying me is that there is very little enzyme in his blood stream, far less than I expected!"

The Lieutenant realized that he even less time that he had thought and futilely tried to shake off the weakness that had grabbed hold of his limbs, his muscles protesting at the sudden activity.

"I think he is awake, Colonel," Teyla's voice said, causing the room to become noisy with movement.

Groaning, Aiden forced his eyes open and was instantly blinded by the unexpectedly bright surroundings. When the worst glare had faded, he noticed that he was exactly where had presumed to be: in the Infirmary of Atlantis, along with Telya, Dr Beckett and Colonel Sheppard. Truth be told, he was surprised not to find any heavy-armed guards next to his bed but he couldn't help noticing that Bates was quietly talking to Major Lorne on the other side of the room and strongly suspected that the Sergeant had come armed – just as a precaution.

"How are you feeling, Ford?" Sheppard asked, trying but failing miserably not to look worried.

One of Aiden's many principles had always been not falling into the I'm-a-soldier-and-feel-no-pain-act many Marines constantly played because he considered this as both pointless and unnecessary risky. True, he wouldn't whine about his injuries the way McKay did but would answer truthfully when asked about his injuries as long as they weren't of i very /i private nature – what obviously wasn't the case here.

"Terrible," he replied, hardly recognizing his own voice, "but that's nothing some enzyme couldn't fix."

"Well, you know there is a slight problem with this," the Colonel began, looking flustered. "How do I say it the best way?"

"That you don't want to give me any?" Aiden finished for him, feeling a pang of disappointment that turned into rage seconds later. "That you want to let me die out of a stupid principle? There is no good way to say that because either way you're murdering me with your decision!"

"We don't have any enzyme, son," Beckett interrupted, "you took the last when you left Atlantis."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Ford cried, his anger vanishing at the spot. "How did you wean off Teyla or McKay without it?"

"We didn't," the Scot stated, "Teyla was already weaned off when she returned from the Hive ship and Rodney quit cold turkey. It wasn't very pleasant but he has survived it without any permanent damage."

"This can't be your suggestion!" the Lieutenant raged, "I'll die if I don't get some enzyme soon! Maybe it worked out for McKay but I've taken it much longer than he has! You're gambling with my life on stake!"

"We are aware of the high risk, Aiden, and we would happily try something else but we don't have any other options," Teyla said in a soothing voice. "I'm sure Dr Beckett will do everything in his power to help you."

Aiden remembered when he had sat at the Athosian's bedside and had tried to reassure her after her disastrous first attempt to tap into the Wraith's psychic network, genuinely hoping that he had been more helpful at that time than she was now. He certainly wasn't going to lay back and wait for everything to work out what would probably only result in a very slow and extremely painful death.

"Then I'll get some myself," he stated matter-of-factly and tried to sit up.

The others protested instantly but none of them could have voice their objection as effectively as his body did a few seconds later. Not even up to a real sitting position, he felt all strength leaving his muscles, followed by a sudden burst of nausea that caused his head to swim. Struggling not to throw up, he fell back into his bed, any thought of going after the Wraith himself banished from his mind.

"You're in no condition to fight the Wraith, son," Beckett stated, even though Aiden would have been quite able to figure this out on his own. "And I'm afraid we won't be able to hunt down some Wraith before all the enzyme in your body has broken down."

Ford felt a sudden spasm of complete despair, the kind of feeling when something horrible is about to happen and you can't do a single thing to prevent it. He was certain he wouldn't survive the withdrawal, not after so much time of taking the enzyme and not in his weakened state. Fate really had a cruel humor. After surviving lying in the icy ocean for more than an hour, escaping from a Wraith Cruiser and even getting out an exploding Hive Ship – even though he still didn't know how he had done this – he would waste away on Atlantis, easily the most secure place in Pegasus Galaxy.

The more rational part of his mind intervened at this part and – backed up by his unwillingness to admit defeat – started contemplating about a possible solution instead of wasting further time quarreling with his fate. Why by all means didn't they have a stash of something as useful as Wraith enzyme here on Atlantis? Suddenly an idea hit him: Back on the planet he had made his base of operation – which he had consequently named Headquarter Planet – was more than enough enzyme to save him. All he needed was someone to fetch the precious liquid for him and he was fairly certain that this wouldn't be a problem.

"Quick, get me something to write!" he said, remembering that they didn't know the address.

"Listen, Ford, I know you don't feel very well but there's no reason to make your will right now!" Sheppard said, obviously misinterpreting his actions. "If you give up now, you have already lost!"

"I'm not giving up; I'm trying to save my life!" Aiden retorted while scribbling on a sheet of paper Beckett had given him. "I need you to get some of the enzyme that is stored on Headquarter Planet – you know, the world I took you – and you'll need the address for this."

"Consider it done but be still here when I'm back," John said, taking the offered note. "Teyla, get ready we're leaving in exactly five minutes!"

Aiden felt strangely touched by his former commanding officer's eagerness to help him and suddenly another feeling welt up in him: regret. Mood swings weren't uncommon during a withdrawal but never before he had felt like this. Since his unwilling plunge in the ocean he had been convinced that his teammates were either afraid of him or jealous of his newfound strength and only coincidence and rare flashes of consciousness had prevented him from killing them. Now, he realized that he had been wrong all the time and the feeling of regret and psychic uprooting became stronger every second.

In his mind, he relived every encounter he had had with his former team since becoming addicted to the enzyme and realized how terrible he had treated them. And still, despite all his wrongs, they tried everything to save his life without holding the slightest of grudge. He realized there was one thing left to do before they left.

"Wait a moment!" he said to the leaving Sheppard, feeling the strong feeling to apologize right now, just in case he didn't survive. "Just in case I won't make it, I want to tell you how sorry I am. For drugging you, for betraying you, for trying to kill you several times … for everything!"

"Your apologies are not necessary, Aiden…" Teyla tried to calm the upset Lieutenant who was now sobbing between his apologies.

Aiden didn't hear the rest of her soothing words for at this moment another seizure rocked his body, even more severe than the one before. During the whole conversation, the pain had gotten stronger, implying that another fit would follow soon but nothing could have prepared him for what would come now. Again his body convulsed and agony blotted out almost every other sensation. The room began changing from hot to cold and vice-versa within seconds, as if he suffered from a bad cold. His head started hurting again and when unconsciousness started to claim him, Ford didn't resist, only desiring the pain to end and not expecting to wake up again.

- - - - -

Shakuras

Belbe led Entreri and Kolya through the silver corridors of Panopticon, swiftly approaching the black heart of the orbital fortress where Veldrin was waiting for them. Panopticon was a lot more populated than before the Gith had taken control of it and they encountered several high ranking members of the Legion who all bowed to her when she passed. That kind of attention was unfamiliar to her and even though she generally enjoyed her new station, she couldn't help feeling a bit uncomfortable with all the attention she suddenly got. Of course, she had had a high rank before the rebellion but at that time only the Unseen had taken notice of her, enabling her to move as inconspicuous as she desired to. Now, Veldrin was some kind of hero for her people – as far as such a term existed on Shakuras – and as his right hand, part of this attention was paid to her.

Technically, the new Highexecutor Kerrick was Veldrin's second-in-command but it was an open secret in the higher ranks of the Legion that Kerrick was but a puppet for the Evincar who never did anything without consulting his superior first. Veldrin himself rarely sought the advice of the Highexecutor but seemed to value her opinion, even though he had grown colder and more distant in the last time.

Her companions were by no means as relaxed as she was – again, this was a relative term, for most Gith never reached the state most humans in Pegasus would call relaxed – what was hardly surprising considering the circumstances. As soon as she had returned from her mission, Veldrin had ordered her to transport several Sentinels to a small backwater planet and to bring Entreri back to him. It seemed that he had acted without the Evincar's approval which was both a very risky and a possibly very rewarding thing to do.

Not that his behavior surprised her, in fact it was what she expected him to do. She knew Entreri from her time at the Academy and had yet to meet someone who was as scheming as the Duskbringer – what was his rank within the Unseen. Of course, Gith society encouraged backstabbing and overreaching others but the self-styled Genii had the definite tendency to overdo it. He seemed to have several plans in motion all the time and his motives were inscrutable to anyone but himself. After several quite impressing ploys of his own, his talent for intrigue became an open secret within the Legion and the fact that he wouldn't hesitate to use them against anyone should the need arise.

Naturally, his superiors didn't quite trust him what slowed down his impressive ascension within the ranks of the Unseen more than a little. This was possibly the reason why she was now his superior and the bounty hunter had the distinct feeling that Entreri didn't like taking orders from her – not that he could do anything against it as long as Veldrin trusted her. Now the Duskbringer had to justify his actions to the Evincar and – even though she didn't know what exactly he had done – Belbe suspected that Entreri would need a very good explanation if he wanted to leave Panopticon without any permanent damage. Dalamar – a Genii first name Entreri had assumed for his mission – seemed aware of this too, judging from the fact that the aura of smugness that usually surrounded him had receded to a bare minimum.

The Genii named Kolya appeared to be totally perplexed by the recent change of events, small surprise considering the fact that he had only recently discovered that his second-in-command was by no means what he supposed to be and that he was now to meet easily the most powerful human in this galaxy. When she had found him he had been barely alive, frozen solid by the shockwave of a glacier grenade, a new weapon recently developed by the Sentinels. Having received the order to bring any non-Gith she encountered back to Shakuras, she had used a teardrop to restore him, another new addition to the Gith arsenal.

Teardrops were roughly fist-sized, bluish crystals that consisted entirely of nanites which were programmed to restore your organism within minutes. Their quite melodramatic name had surprisingly prosaic reasons, alluding to their droplet-like form. Teardrops dissolved as soon as they touched bare skin, the nanites defusing through it and beginning their task. The results were amazing: Even complicated or life-threatening injuries could now been heal within a short period of time and the Sentinels continually hinted that they hadn't even begun to unlock the true potential of nanotechnology. The only downside of the 'drops were that they were quite difficult to produce and only the most high-ranking members of the Legion were allowed to carry one – what fortunately included her.

Her thoughts were interrupted when they reached the massive door that led to Veldrin's throne room. This part of Panopticon was far more appealing to her since Crovax' departure for the current Evincar didn't feel the urge to surround himself with shadows and decay. Following this morality shift, the corridors were brightly lit this time and the black marble seemed more elegant than foreboding, changes that made coming here a lot more pleasant than before. Wondering once again that Veldrin didn't have guards position before his inner sanctum – perhaps to give possible intrudes a false sense of security? –, she knocked and entered, Entreri and Kolya following in her wake.

The throne room looked almost exactly as it had when she and Veldrin had celebrated their victory over the Wraith several months ago, even though it looked somehow messier and more chaotic than before. The huge desk in the middle of the room was plastered with notes and reports, mostly written in Wraith or Ancient instead of the usual High Gith, something Belbe considered unusual for Veldrin had never showed any archeological interest before. Looking kind of forgotten in the mass of paper, stood a bowl filled with nabiz, a local mushroom which was both unusually nourishing and completely tasteless. Since few things took root in the barren plains of Shakuras, it was one of the food staples in the City of Traitors and tasted quite well when properly spiced – even though it would still taste quite bland to the inhabitants of other world.

The inhabitant of this room sat behind the desk and looked up from the note he had been reading when she entered, a small smile playing on his features. The bounty hunter noticed that the past months had not been gentle to Veldrin. His jet-black hair was now riddle with grey and a lot more wrinkles had formed around his eyes – the inhabitants of other planets might call them 'laugh wrinkles' but Belbe didn't consider this as very fitting name when talking about a Gith. Maybe the new burden of command was taking its toll on the former Highexecutor, after all commanding the Legion and plotting against your superiors wasn't quite the same as ruling a whole planet.

To her surprise, Highexecutor Kerrick was also present, standing to the Evincar's right and watching both Kolya and Entreri with open suspicion. Kerrick belonged to the Enforcer and had the distinct brutish look the Unseen often associated with that part of the Legion. Short and wirily with lots of scars decorating his skin, the Highexecutor looked more like a street thug than an associate of the Evincar. Belbe often wondered if Kerrick was secretly trying to undermine her influence and – in the long run – assume her position as Veldrin's right hand or if the soldier simply lacked the affinity for intrigue the Unseen possessed. Anyway, she was fairly certain that whatever he might have in store for her, she would be able to handle it.

"Evincar, Highexecutor, as commanded I present you Duskbringer Entreri and Commander Kolya of the Genii," she stated, bowing low.

"At ease, Belbe," Veldrin replied, "you know I don't require you to stick to the protocol. Well done and welcome back, I always knew you wouldn't fail me!"

The bounty hunter thought that this was a strong thing to say after setting someone an ultimatum but couldn't help feeling a bit mollified by the Evincar's words. The Lord of Shakuras moved his attention to Kolya now, who mirrored Kerrick's impression of open distrust.

"There is no need to look so alarmed, Commander; I assure you that I wouldn't have let you brought here if I wanted you dead!"

"Funny thing to say after one of your men tricked me into attending a mission which turned out to be a total disaster!" Kolya replied. "Besides, what might I have that interest you?"

"Listen you worthless excuse for a warrior!" Kerrick snarled. "You show the Evincar the respect he deserves or I'll personally teach you some manners. Trust me, whatever you have experienced on this backwater planet will be nothing compared to what I have in store for you!"

"Relax, Highexecutor, I don't think it will be necessary to discipline to Commander," Veldrin responded, unusually diplomatic in Belbe's opinion. "He is our guest after all and has information that might prove invaluable to us."

"And what kind of information that might be?" Kolya asked, voicing the same question Belbe had asked herself a few moments ago.

"My subordinates have informed me that the Genii have had several encounters with the Lanteans and this makes them very interesting for our purposes," the Evincar stated. "But to fully understand why I want this kind of information so badly, you will have to know what happened on Shakuras during the last 10000 years. Since explaining it the traditional way would take ages, I suggest you're using this to close your gab of education."

Belbe felt maddeningly clueless when Veldrin produced a perfectly round sphere out of his cloak, which appeared to be made out of some kind of crystal the bounty hunter wasn't familiar with. While the exterior was plain and looked almost like ice, the inner core of the sphere was filled with a flickering orange light, as if a flame had been locked in an icicle. Strangely enough, the glow vanished as soon as the Evincar handed the crystal to Kolya, who seemed a little perplexed by the whole affair. He regarded the crystal carefully for some time, apparently searching for some hidden etchings that might have been placed on the trinket. Finding none, he addressed Veldrin again.

"How exactly is this going to help me?"

"You're holding the Thought Matrix, a Wraith artifact we have recently discovered," the Lord of Shakuras responded. "It belonged to the former Evincar Tichondrius who used as some kind of storage for his thoughts. Tichondrius was extremely intelligent but incredibly unfocused and unable to concentrate on anything for a longer period of time, so he constructed the Matrix to preserve his thoughts, just in case he might needed them anytime later. If used properly, it can implant thoughts into your temporal lobe, enabling you to perceive foreign memories as if they were your one – and vice versa of course. Maybe as homage to the Ancients, he made sure than only a Wraith – or someone who has at least some Wraith DNA – can activate it, what is the reason why it turned dull when you touched it. I have stored some of my own memories in it and will now implant them into your brain – but I would really advise you to sit down before."

Kolya made no move to heed this advice – probably out of the kind of foolish pride males often sported –, a decision he likely regretted when Veldrin grabbed hold of the sphere and activated it. Twin beams of light traveled from the sphere through the body of the Genii, vanishing when they reached his brain. Afterwards, Kolya collapsed as if hit by a Wraith stunner, landing unceremoniously on the ground even though he didn't appeared to be unconscious. It took him only a few seconds to recover after which he shakily got back to his feat, looking as though he didn't know what exactly had just happened.

"As I tried to tell you the side-effects of the Matrix can be quite unpleasant even though it becomes easier with practice," the Evincar said, retrieving the crystal. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm not sure yet, it feels a bit strange," Kolya said, letting his eyes dart across the room. "Sheppard and this Athosian were here once, weren't they?"

"Yes, they helped me dispatching the former Evincar Crovax," Veldrin replied. "As you might remember now, I offered them an alliance afterwards but they declined – not surprising but still regrettable!"

"I don't know if working with Sheppard would be worth whatever advantage such a pact might offer!" the Genii answered, his voice dripping with contempt.

"Despite these minor drawbacks such an agreement, would have been very fortunate for us. Due to our technological and strategic advantage it is only a question of time until the Wraith are defeated and a new glorious Gith Empire will rule this galaxy! But the Lanteans are the only unknown in this equation, a variable that is too important to ignore. With their access to Ancient technology and the knowledge to wield it, they are a serious threat for our plans. Considering Atlantis' remarkable defense, there wasn't much we could do about this but it seems like that today's events have turned the tide to our advantage – whether Entreri planned to do this or not!"

"The benefit of Shakuras was my only motivation, Evincar," Dalamar said smoothly even though Belbe was sure no one in this room believed him.

"If that was true, I wouldn't require your services anymore," Veldrin responded with the ghost of a smile on his lips. "Without their constant scheming the Unseen would only be half as good as they are! Now, tell us all above whatever ploy you followed today and don't leave anything out – remember that you need very good reasons to justify working behind my back!"

If Entreri felled cowed, he did an excellent job of concealing it. "As you wish, your Highness. Following my orders, I infiltrated the Genii home planet and started collecting information, searching for something that might help us against the Wraith. After discovering that they were by no means as primitive as they were pretending to be – information I immediately relayed to Shakuras – I wondered whether I might use them for my purposes. You might find this hard to believe but the current standstill in my career has troubled me greatly!"

"I'm not surprised, Entreri!" Belbe said. "You always were far too ambitious to know what's good for you! Seems like you once again miscalculated and got away with it! Fortune really seems to favor fools!"

"Then it is surprising that you seem to have fallen out of its grace, Necroshade!" the Duskbringer retorted, completely unimpressed. "I may admit that my scheme had a few weaknesses but maybe we should stick to the chronological order, if only for sake of not confusing our audience! I started to steal information from the Hidden Ones – the Genii intelligence that is – using my tremendous mental abilities to gain their trust and alter their memory afterwards. It was ridiculously easy, the Genii obviously don't expect that someone can infiltrate their numbers and become unusually talkative if you press the right buttons. Originally, I only intended to present you unusually detailed intelligence about a lesser race but during a routine visit back here, some news reached me that caused me to upgrade my plans to something more complex and rewarding!"

"I guess you're referring to us localizing whatever remained from _Predator_ on this petty backwater planet you recently visited," Veldrin guessed. "Quite an achievement regarding that this information was highly confidential!"

"Few things remain secret for someone as skilled as me," Dalamar continued, not bothering to hide his smugness. "Considering how valuable a downed Wraith ship could be for us, I guessed that the best way to win your favor was to bring you _Predator_'s central storage crystal, a challenge worthy of my extraordinary talents. Since the planet's 'gate is located in space and we had no ship at our disposer, I assumed that you would send Necroshade Belbe to find a fitting vessel, meaning that I would have to act quickly if I wanted outplay your right hand!"

Belbe was fuming: Entreri had caused all this mess out of envy of her position and she had been forced to clean up after him! She wasn't sure whether Veldrin liked the direction Entreri's tale was heading, making her hope that a welcome opportunity to get rid of the bothersome Duskbringer would arise. Petty vengeance might be far below her level but she had to admit that it was satisfying none of the less. Whether anyone had noticed her reaction the bounty hunter didn't know but considered it unlikely for Dalamar was still spinning his tale and anyone else in the room seemed quite mesmerized by the report.

"Due to my rather limited familiarity with Wraith ships and their position in this galaxy, I decided to use a completely different way of transportation. As current inhabitants of Atlantis, Colonel Sheppard and his associates would have access to a ship that might get us to our destination – provided I could motivate them to give us a ride. Kidnapping one of their off-world teams appeared to be the best way to do so, so I contacted my various informants, searching for a planet they had recently visited. Once I had found one, I informed Commander Kolya of my intentions, claiming to be a high-ranking member of the Hidden One. Since he knew a lot more about the Lanteans than I did and had fought them before, I considered him invaluable for the success of my scheme. Convincing him to join my operation was a much easier than I had thought, all I had to do get his approval was to mention the Lanteans and offer him a chance for revenge – people holding grudges are so easy to manipulate!"

Kolya's scowl deepened at these words and he shot Entreri a glare that was only insignificantly warmer than the shockwave of a glacial grenade. Dalamar seemed not half as arrogant as before when continued his tale probably because he now reached that part of his scheme where everything had started to go out of hand.

"The last thing I needed before putting my plan into action was proper equipment since Genii technology is – although quite impressive for a lesser race – not nearly as advanced as ours. Using my usual contacts, I stole a delivery of supplies to one of our outposts, convinced that the possible reward would make up for this act of insubordination. Unfortunately, the stolen delivery didn't contain any kind of medical supplies, so I visited a planet called Yawimaya whose inhabitants primitive medicine is astonishingly effective – only to find much more than the healing I had sought!"

Entreri made a dramatic pause here and Belbe felt her heart beat faster. Yawimaya was the planet she had left Aiden after retrieving him from the Hive Ship! Dalamar's enigmatic allusion could only mean he had found him what meant nothing but trouble for the bounty hunter. Did he know who had brought the Lieutenant there and wanted to bust this truth in front of the Evincar himself? If he did, she would be in serious trouble. Raking her mind for a way to wiggle out of this mess, she waited breathlessly for the Duskbringer to continue.

"While restocking my medical reserves I encountered the Lantean called Lieutenant Ford, whom I had never met before but recognized instantly from the information Kolya had given me. He was unconscious so it was quite easy to trap him in a void stone and take him with him as an additional motivation for the Atlanteans to help us. As I learned the hard way later, this decision was a grave mistake that ruined my perfect plan!

At first everything went as planned: we captured one of the Lantean's teams, contacted Atlantis and arranged a meeting. Then I forced Colonel Sheppard to transport us to our destination, promising him the freedom of Lieutenant Ford and his other comrades in exchange. Once we had arrived on the planet I made the mistake of rematerializing the Lieutenant – a token of trust toward the Lanteans – who interestingly enough didn't seem happy to see his comrades. After a short but violent exchange between him and Sheppard, I gave them the order to bring us the central data storing device of _Predator_. I claimed my familiarity with Wraith and Gith technology came from interrogating several captured Gith, a lie that was surprisingly close to the truth, considering that I stole from you to get this scheme into motion.

Once they had left to pay a visit to Gix' ship I thought that nothing could ruin the plan from this point. They wouldn't dare risking the life of the last hostage so all left to do was to wait for them to return, take the crystal and stay in control until we had passed the event horizon again. With our superior equipment, Kolya's expertise in fighting them and my extraordinary talents, there was no way the Lanteans might turn the tide. I even temporarily considered killing them or bringing them to Shakuras once we were done but decided against it since it would unnecessarily complicate the plan. Despite my trust in the Atlanteans's, I grew more and more concerned while waiting for their return, for a demise on their side would force us to explore the downed Cruiser ourselves, a danger I had no desire to put myself in. So I was quite relieved when Lieutenant Ford returned, claiming to have found the crystal we where looking for.

His comrades where nowhere to be found and when asked about their absence, he declared that he had dispatched them but refused to name the reasons – which didn't matter to me anyway. However, his apparent co-operation turned out to be feint and soon I found myself in the middle of a melee where – I could hardly believe it – we were forced into the defensive despite outnumbering him four-to-one. The last thing I remember before blacking out was throwing a glacier grenade at him and pressing a gun to his temple when he survived the detonation. Than someone or something must have hit me and I was unconscious until the Necroshade came to our help. That's all, Evincar, now I await your judgment!"

Probably for dramatic effect, Entreri kneeled in front of Veldrin; his eyes fixed one the black marble beneath him. The Evincar's face was completely inscrutable when he regarded the Duskbringer and Belbe wondered whether his hesitation was a good sign for Dalamar or a bad one. The outcome of the trial didn't really matter to her anyway – even though she would feel a grim satisfaction should Entreri fall out of Veldrin's favor – as long as her involvement in Aiden's stay on Yawimaya remained a secret. She simply hadn't expected any other Gith would know the planet and sense she couldn't use Yawimaya as sanctuary again. Her master's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Arise, Entreri, I will not punish you for your insubordination even thought it has almost ruined an important ploy of my own! Nevertheless, your involvement has brought Commander Kolya here whose knowledge about Atlantis will come in handy in what I have in mind!"

"And what might this plan of yours might be, Evincar?" Belbe asked but was interrupted by some kind of alarm and the sudden appearance of a holographic map showing this part of Pegasus Galaxy. The position of Panopticon was highlighted as was the position and course of a Wraith ship heading straight towards Shakuras.

"Perfect timing," Veldrin stated, "Zyris is even better than I had thought!"

"Loremaster Zyris?" Belbe inquired in confusion, "didn't I just transport him to the planet Entreri was on?"

Instead of answering, the Evincar briefly touched his throne and the part of the map that showed the Wraith ship enlarged to a multiple of its former size. The bounty hunter remembered that Panopticon had its name for a reason, more specifically, for the highly advanced sensors the orbital fortress was equipped with. Now, she could make out far more details than before and had the strange impression that the Wraith Cruiser looked oddly familiar. Suddenly she realized why Veldrin had ordered her to take several members of the Sentinels to the planet she had picked Dalamar up.

They had salvaged _Predator_!

- - - - -

Later this day, Weir's office

"You know that I have right to throw you in the brick for your insubordination, don't you?" Elizabeth inquired rhetorically, her words carrying some of the frustration she felt.

"Insubordination?" John asked, clearly not believing his ears, "all I did was saving Ford's life!"

"I know you did and I'm grateful for this. But whatever your intentions, you can't just go on a mission without getting my permission or even informing me! You knew I was in another part of the city and I would have cost you only a few seconds to inform me! Instead, you simply opened the 'gate and left without even saying where you went! How do you think I felt when Beckett came to me and asked me about a mission I knew nothing about?"

"Ok, I can understand you're angry," the Colonel responded. "But I had good reasons not to inform you!"

"And what are those reasons?" Weir asked, having the nasty feeling that she wouldn't like the answer.

"I knew that you would never allow me to go on this mission and Ford would waste away on the Infirmary!"

"Damn right!" the expedition leader exploded. "I wouldn't have given you permission to walk straight into main base of operation of an unpredictable group of guerrilla junkies who forced you to enter a suicide mission the last time you met! Did the thought that they might attack you on sight never cross your mind? That they might think you held Ford captive? You endangered your life and the life of your team by jumping to action without a proper plan!"

Sheppard's face darkened. "That's exactly why I didn't ask you! I knew that you would only waste time arguing with me about the mission, time that Ford didn't have! We all knew how slim his chances were but once we had an alternative to let him quit cold turkey it would have been murder not to try! You're right, it was reckless and dangerous but trust me, when it comes down to saving someone I care about, I would go much farther! I would do the same for you, by the way!

"I feel flattered and admire your loyalty but you're missing my point!" Elizabeth responded, feeling more and more frustrated by the Colonel's stubbornness. "Yes, we probably would have lost Ford if you hadn't gone on this mission and I would have been as devastated as everyone who knows him. But, if you're insisting taking outrageous risks that put both you and the majority of my senior staff into grave danger, I insist that you at least i talk /i to me about it! Hell, you probably would have talked me into giving you permission anyway! But I can't accept that you didn't trust me enough to even talk to me about what you had in mind! If you once more undermine my authority like this, I will have to search a new military commander!"

"You are threatening me?" John asked incredulously, now scowling at her. "Because I can't switch off my feelings like you do? Do you care at all about what happens to Ford?"

Was he kidding her? After all the time they had worked together she would have expected him to know her better.

"Do you think it's easy for me to make these decisions? As I said, I would be devastated if the Lieutenant didn't survive but I can't afford me to get carried away by my emotions as you seem to do! There was no way you could have know that the base was deserted and the enzyme still where Ford had left it but as usual you simply ignored the risks and did as you please! And afterwards, when everything has miraculously worked out, I have to listen to your accusations why I didn't agree with you in the first place? I will no longer tolerate this behavior, John! Leading this expedition is difficult enough without a hotshot second-in-command who tries to give me a guilt-trip!"

Sheppard was about to retort when the door to her office opened and Carson stepped in. Elizabeth had asked him to keep her in the loop about Ford's and Major Lorne's condition and it seemed like the Scot had chosen the perfect moment to appear. The argument between her and John was going nowhere anytime soon and it might be better if they both calmed down before discussing this matter again.

"Oh, I didn't know you where here Colonel," Beckett said, glancing at the Colonel. "I hope I didn't interrupt you."

"No problem Carson, I'm sure John is as interested in what you have to say as I am! Please go ahead!"

"Well, Major Lorne is recovering quite well, his hypothermia was critical and he nearly his left arm but he should be right as rain in some time."

"And what about Lieutenant Ford?" Elizabeth asked, voicing the question that was written clearly on John's face.

"No such luck there," Carson admitted, his voice betraying a weariness Weir had never heard before. "He is alive and his injuries are healing astonishingly fast but it was way too close for my taste. Only slightly longer without another dose of enzyme and we had lost him!"

"Can you wean him off with the enzyme the Colonel provided?" the expedition leader inquired, pointedly ignoring the far too satisfied look on John's face. She was relieved Ford was alive but the seems-like-I-was-right-after-all expression Sheppard wore set her teeth on edge.

"Theoretically, that's would be possible but there is a problem. I have run a few tests and found out that after having been exposed to it for such a long time, Ford's body has adapted and integrated the enzyme into his metabolism. I have no idea which body functions apart from those we are aware off are affected by this and how a withdrawal might affect those. We'll have to wean him off much slower than we had planned otherwise the risks would be virtually unpredictable. The main problem is how he will react when he regains consciousness. If he doesn't want to be weaned off, we will be in for a lot of trouble!"

"Judging from what happened the last time we tried this, I doubt he will be willing to cooperate!" Elizabeth stated, having the nasty feeling that the same disaster would happen again.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," John contradicted, "he seemed quite normal when I talked to him earlier. A bit depressed and not as bouncy as usual, but by no means the crackling maniac he was before! Maybe he has changed his mind about the enzyme by now."

"I truly hope so but we can't afford to take any risks, Caldwell will go berserk anyway because we didn't throw him in the brick as soon as we had him!" Weir responded. "I want guards posted outside of the Infirmary as soon as he's there, one of them armed with Ronon's gun since stunners don't affect Ford. But be discreet, I don't want him to think, we're viewing him as a threat! Inform me as soon he wakes up, we have much to discuss! In the meantime, I'm sure you have other things to do while I try to figure out how I stop Caldwell from court-martial him!"

Carson seemed nervous when he left her office while John's expression was completely inscrutable. He avoided her eyes and Elizabeth needed all of her considerable willpower not to think of the argument they had had earlier. There were more important problems to solve.

- - - - -

Several days later, the Rift, Shakuras

Standing motionlessly in the hot air, Veldrin once again wondered why Entreri had insisted to meet here, one of the most dangerous and unpleasant parts of Shakuras. The Rift was the lowest point of the City of Traitors, only about 50 meters above an endless sea of boiling magma. The dangerous proximity to the molten rock was necessary for the purpose of the structure which was to supply the city above with power when no ZPM was available. Out of this reason water was pumped through pipes made of an extremely heat resistant metal, turning it to steam which was later used to power up huge rotor blades that generated the actually power output. In the Evincar's opinion this was a rather crude method and far below the Gith's technological level – even though constructing and maintaining the power plant would probably overextend that rather limited creativity of all other races in this galaxy – which was an inconvenience he was about to remedy soon.

Soft footsteps interrupted his musings and tore his attention from the tangle of pipes far below him. He didn't need to turn around to know who stood behind him in the hot air.

"You're late and I hate waiting!" he said matter-of-factly. "What you have to say should better be worth all the trouble!"

"I assure you it will, Evincar," Entreri answered smoothly. "I have critical information regarding Necroshade Belbe! I suspect she is conspiring against you!"

That managed to get Veldrin's attention. An intrigue of his trusted second-in-command was both dangerous and unexpected. But every bit as peculiar was the fact that Entreri was the one who brought this gloomy news. Considering the strong animosity between them, it wouldn't surprise him if the Duskwalker was feeding him false information in the hope to undermine Belbe's position as his second-in-command.

"And what kind of conspiracy is this supposed to be?" he asked the other Gith.

"Remember the primitive planet I found Lieutenant Ford? I wasn't there out of coincidence! I went there because I saw Belbe bringing him there!"

"And you were there and observed this by chance?" he asked skeptically, "very convenient! You don't mind if I don't take everything you say for face value, don't you? After all you have quite a history of intrigue and Belbe has server me faithfully in years! What would she have to gain in aiding the Lanteans?"

"That I cannot answer, your Highness, but I assure you that I have nothing to gain in falsely accusing her!" Entreri stated. "She is your second-in-command and I'm just another member of the Unseen, there is no way I could assume her position so apart from personal dislike there is nothing that might motivate me to machinate her fall-from-grace. But please, let me tell you the whole story before you draw any conclusions for this is by no means the perfect place for a longer conversation."

Veldrin gave him an encouraging nod and waited curiously for whatever the Duskwalker might have to say, his mind already spinning with possibilities.

"My orders were to search an abandoned Wraith laboratory on an uninhabited planet for anything that might be of value for our war. Nothing was out of the ordinary until the 'gate was activated and a Wraith Dart crash-landed close to my position. I carefully moved closer to check if there were any survivors and whether the technology was salvageable, assuming that any surviving Wraiths would be too weak to resist me!"

Entreri made a dramatic pause here and Veldrin, who thought that now wasn't the time for straining after effect, sent him a rather irritated glance that motivated the Unseen to quickly resume his tale.

"As it turned out the two passengers had survived the impact without any serious wounds and weren't Wraith at all. I guess you can imagine my surprise finding Necroshade Belbe and an unconscious Lantean – Lieutenant Ford as I know now – right in the middle of a crashed Dart. Intrigued, I watched her dialing the 'gate and memorized the symbols she had used, intending to pay the planet she went a visit once I had finished my task on this planet. That was the reason I was on Yawimaya and even though I have no idea what might motivate her to help Ford I thought that you should know.

"And you chose to meet here so nobody except us knows that we have been meeting?" the Evincar inquired rhetorically. "That's unusually good thinking for you, Entreri. Thanks for informing me, but what happens now is no longer of your concern. Return to your duties and never talk to anyone about what we have discussed here today!"

Once Entreri had made his leave, Veldrin decided to think things over at a more suitable place. Using the Seal of Dominion as a focus, he extended his consciousness towards Panopticon and ordered it to teleport him back into his throne room. Only seconds later, he sat on the spike adorned control chair and contemplated his next course of action.

He had no idea why Belbe had helped Ford and how far her loyalty extended towards him and – far more importantly – to the other, non-renegade Lanteans. Was it lust that drove her? That would be quite preferable to any other explanations for her strange behavior. As far as he was concerned she could get laid by him as often as she wished as long as she didn't help Sheppard or any other Lantean. Unlike his former comrades, the Lieutenant wasn't a factor in Veldrin's plans, meaning that the Evincar was completely indifferent to what happened to him. Any further cooperation between his second-in-command and the Lanteans however, could not be tolerated, especially not now.

The salvaging of _Predator_ was a unique opportunity that would allow him to end the Lanteans' meddling with his plans once and for all. As soon as the Sentinels had finished the repairs and equipped the ship with some technological upgrades, he would lead an assault on Atlantis, bypassing most of their defense by using a ship to go there. A special cloaking device would allow them to approach unseen and the Wraith teleportation technology would get them inside the city. He had decided to strike at night when the majority of Atlantis' population was resting, using the surprise moment to quickly seize control of the 'gate room and finish the mission before dawn. If everything went as planned, he would return with several ZPMs, valuable information extracted from the Atlantis database and a certain, precious artifact that mattered more to him than any of the former.

He briefly considered postponing the sneak attack until he had investigated the true extend of Belbe's loyalty but then discarded the thought. He simply hadn't time to play this one save! The idea of the most powerful being in the Pegasus Galaxy wasting away because he was unwilling to take any risks was not appealing at all. He found himself contemplating his death more often than he liked since he knew that the Atrophy was ravaging his body. The Atrophy was a genetic defect many Gith suffered from, probably a result of Tichondrius' experiments. It inhabited the cell's ability to reproduce, slowing the Mitosis until it stopped completely. Once this point was reached a simple cold was sufficient to kill the patient but even without any further illness it was only a matter of time before the body collapsed because no new cells could take the place of spent ones. There was no cure, just an experimental therapy to prolong the life of the patient.

Once he had gotten the diagnosis, Veldrin had been hell-bent to wrap up some loose ends before he died – one of them included killing Sheppard as painfully as possible. His priorities had changed again when he realized that there was an artifact that might save him, an artifact that was hidden on Atlantis. The problem was the Lanteans might disapprove him plundering their sanctuary and since their 'gate was similar shielded as the one on Shakruas; he needed a ship that brought him there. Out of this reason, he had ordered Belbe to bring him a Wraith ship and had been so enraged by her lack of progress. That _Predator_ would be his means of transportation was an amusing twist of fate.

Entreri's little scheme had fitted into his plan perfectly, far better than he could have hoped. The Evincar had been aware of _Predator_'s crash site for quite some time but had lacked the means to get there. Originally he had intended to go there with a hijacked Dart Belbe would bring him but the current situation was even more in his favor. He had the ship he had desired and a new ally whose knowledge of Atlantis might prove invaluable in the coming attack. Thanks to their newly acquired expertise with nano-technology, Zyris and his fellow Sentinels should had finished the repairs anytime now, so there were only two things left to do.

One was to give the Seal of Dominion to Highexecutor Kerrick so the City of Traitors wasn't unprotected while he was away. Besides he couldn't risk carrying it with him while pillaging Atlantis for if it was damaged or lost, Shakuras would be as helpless as any other planet. Despite those risks the thought of lending such a powerful relict to another Gith didn't appeal to him at all, since whoever possessed it also had control over Panopticon and the Ray Cannon. Given the ambition and moral flexibility most of Shakuras' inhabitants sported, it was very probably that he would have to dispose of a rival as soon as he returned from his crusade, what was one of the reasons he wanted Belbe to come with him. Of all possible aspirants on the Evincar's throne, she would be the toughest to best. Kerrick, on the other hand, was a whole different matter. Veldrin was pretty sure that he could easily foil whatever scheme the other Gith might come up with, should the Highexecutor have the guts to betray him.

The other was to decide what to do with his secretive second-in-command. He had been quite shaken by Entreri's report but once he had thought things over, he figured that it didn't really matter. The sneak attack on Atlantis would be the perfect opportunity to find out where the Necroshade's loyalty truly lay – and he hoped for their both sake that she made the right decision. A message from Zyris interrupted his thoughts at this point, informing him that _Predator_ was ready for takeoff now. Taking a last glance on his throne room, he teleported himself right to the Cruiser's dock and waited for the rest of the squad to arrive.

Atlantis would be his before the Jade Moon rose again.

- - - - -

A few hours later, Atlantis

Aiden Ford gazed into the dark ocean, his thoughts as chaotic and unstructured as the waves beneath him. The past days had shaken all he had believed and left him deeply unsure of what to do. A part of him rejoiced of being back on Atlantis, surrounded by his friends and not alone for the first time in many months. True, his men had given him some comfort and had soothed the deep loneliness he had felt before but it simply wasn't the same as being here. They had been more like underlings than friends, obeying him without question and always in need of a strong leader. He admired Teyla who had been forced to show this kind of strength for years and still managed not to crack under the stress. As enjoyable being the leader for a change had been, not even a dose of Wraith enzyme could fully suppress the burden of command.

Truth be told, he was surprised how warmly he had been welcomed back here after all he had done. Bates had been almost nice to him, what was the strongest sign of affection the Sergeant usually allowed himself to show. Sheppard was virtually beaming with joy to have him back, Teyla had been delighted and a very relieved-looking Weir had told him she would use all her considerable influence to keep him from being court-marshaled. Beckett seemed to be quite nervous when he was around but considering that he had nearly killed the Scot twice, this didn't surprise Aiden at the least. Neither did the fact that both Ronon and McKay completely ignored his presence and tried their best to avoid him even though they probably had different reasons to do so. After all he had to endure due to Aiden's machinations; the astrophysicist likely considered him a dangerous lunatic that should be avoided as much as possible. Ronon probably thought much the same way and had even less reason to trust him since they hardly knew each other.

Despite the surprisingly pleasant welcome, he found himself unsure whether he wanted to stay or not. Up to now, he hadn't found the time to think about this for he had been unconscious for the majority of the few days on Atlantis. The nearly fatal encounter with the Genii and the events on the Hive Ship had painfully reminded him that he was not as invincible as he usually felt. He still had no idea how he got off the hive ship but at least part of his memories had returned. He remembered lying onto a bunk in twilight, only barely conscious, listening to the whispered conversation of several unseen people. It was hard to be sure but Aiden thought he knew one of these voices but had no idea whom it belonged to. He wasn't even sure whether it belonged to a man or a woman.

A coincidental glance at his watch told it was already several minutes past midnight and that his next dose of enzyme was already overdue. As he extracted the hyperbolic needle that contained the precious liquid, Aiden was surprised how easy it had been to endure four hours without a shot. In general, real withdrawal started after more than one day without enzyme but injuries and great amounts of exertion could vastly accelerate this process – what had he had learned the hard way during his recent trip to the Hive Ship. In his current, rather relaxed state, four hours withdrawal weren't dangerous but rather a particularly unpleasant inconvenience. The euphoric feeling that accompanied a fresh shot didn't last very long and the feeling of loss that followed several hours later wasn't easy to bear. It usually faded in no time but since a few captured Wraith had offered a virtually infinite amount of enzyme, he had made it a habit of taking another dose once the euphoria started to fade.

He felt a sudden pang of regret when he injected himself the alien protein and it simply didn't feel right. The sense of happiness and relief was an empty one even though Beckett had only slightly decreased the dose. He knew from experience that his extraordinary physical abilities weren't in danger – they had no changed while he had steadily upped the dose so there was no reason for them to weaken now – but nevertheless experienced a strong feeling of loss that quickly turned into anger. They had no right to do this to him! They did not know that they were talking about! Without the enzyme flowing through his veins he wouldn't have survived all he went through and they forced him to quit simply out of arrogance and spite! Maybe he should just leave – no, he must not think that way.

Teyla's soft voice ended his dire musings and new emotions joined the turmoil that raged within his mind.

"I'm surprised to find you awake, Aiden. I thought everyone except Dr McKay had already retreated for the night.

"I sleep very irregularly since I'm taking the enzyme," the Lieutenant replied, running a hand through his recently trimmed hair. In an attempt to blend in with the rest of the population on Atlantis he had traded his battered guerilla look – at least that was how Sheppard had called it – to a more inconspicuous attire. Even though his face still looked awkward, he was surprised how much his appearance had been affected by a haircut, a shave and different clothing. Aiden thought he looked much younger now, close to his old boyish appearance that had him the favorite target of McKay's crude humor. He felt Teyla's eyes tracing his body but the Athosian didn't comment on the change of costume.

"You seem troubled," she said instead and hesitated for a few seconds as if she wasn't sure what to say. "How are you feeling?"

"Physically I'm fine, not counting the addiction to an alien polypeptide. But I'm not sure what to make of all of this. Back out there everything made at least some sense. I was the good guy while you were too blind to see the benefits of the enzyme and afraid of what I have become. Now, I don't know what to believe anymore! My instinct tells me I'm perfectly safe here but somehow that doesn't convince me! Sometimes I have the distinct feeling that at least some of you are plotting behind my back and no matter how hard I try to quash it, it always returns. How can I stay here if neither of us trusts the other?"

"I do trust you," Teyla assured him, moving closer as if to emphasize her point. "And after all we have been trough together you should trust me as well. We have nothing but your best interest in mind!"

Aiden's sprits rose at this unexpected proclamation of trust. The woman he had been attracted to for ages didn't hate him for all he had done. Even better, she still trusted him despite all the good reasons not to. Before he could stop himself, he leaned forward a kissed her. She neither pulled back nor returned the kiss.

"Thanks, for trusting me," he whispered as he broke the connection, ignoring the definite impression that he had just made a fool of himself.

Teyla looked confused but gave no indication of anger and after a few minutes of more casual conversation centering on the many events he had missed, she retreated to her quarters. The Lieutenant continued his quite musing, wondering whether her lack of reaction was a good or a bad sign.

- - - - -

Control Room

"This doesn't make any sense!" Rodney McKay stated, signing in exasperation. Nothing frustrated the astrophysicist as easily as not knowing the answer to a really intriguing question, not even trying to get down the level of the many idiots he had had the misfortune to work with over the years. His current frustration was the result of about four hours work on the same problem without getting any closer to a solution. The deep space sensors had suddenly activated themselves but the part of space they had observed seemed completely empty. Whatever had rose their interest had apparently vanished while travelling in hyperspace – which was as far as Rodney knew completely impossible unless the regarding object was destroyed by something. He had spent the last hours searching for a reason for this obvious malfunction but hadn't had any success by now. For all he could tell, the sensors were working just fine.

"Still no idea what might be wrong?" Elizabeth asked him, emerging from her hours for the first time in hours.

"No, but it's only a matter of time till I find out," the Canadian replied, initializing yet another diagnostic program. "Calling it a day?"

"More like a night," Weir replied, barely suppressing a yawn. "I really should get more sleep but my schedule just doesn't allow it!"

Before Rodney could come up with a suitable reply, a blinding flash illuminated the control room, followed by the distinct sound of Wraith stunners. Once he could see clearly again, all the military personal was out cold and familiar looking shapes dressed in silky black occupied most of the room.

"Long time no see, Dr McKay," Veldrin said. "Looks like Atlantis in mine now!"


	5. Twilight

Chapter 5: Twilight

_Despite the general conformance of their genetic code and ours, the particular genes responsible for the creature's extraordinary form used a completely different set of nucleic acids to encode their information, acids formerly unknown to us. Fortunately, some of the research that had enabled the creature's to assume this new shape in the first place was still intact, enabling us to create a fitting gene therapy while avoiding the dangerous interaction between specific genes that seemed to have destroyed their intelligence._

––_Bioengineer Mortanius, Ascension Theory_

Weir still wasn't entirely sure what had just happened. Out of thin air, a hostile strike force including Acastus Kolya had materialized in the 'gate room and taken out all present military personnel within moments. What puzzled her most was that Kolya was the only Genii in the ranks of the attackers and didn't even seem to be in charge. Even though she didn't know exactly who was attacking them here – reading reports simply wasn't the same to actually meeting one of their many enemies – the strange shade of black most of the soldiers wore rose a terrible suspicion in her.

"Rodney are these. .?"

"Gith, yes!" the astrophysicist replied without taking his eyes from the Gith that had spoken earlier. "Prepare for the worst, these guys are much like the Genii only twice as crazy!"

"Greetings, Dr Weir, please allow me to introduce myself," the apparent leader said with mock courtesy. "I am Evincar Veldrin and this is my second-in-command Necroshade Belbe. I assume you know Commander Kolya of the Genii?"

The glare Kolya sent her told Elizabeth that Kolya hadn't forgotten the humiliation he had endured at the hands of the Lanteans just as she had never forgotten how the Genii had double-crossed and threatened them. She held his gaze defiantly, determined not to show any weakness in the Evincar's presence. The Gith seemed to follow the exchange with some amusement, the ghost of a smile playing on his face.

"As you might have noticed Doctor, we control Atlantis now but don't worry if you cooperate with us nobody will be permanently hurt and we will leave as soon as we have what we want!"

"And what exactly do you want?" Elizabeth asked her voice much calmer than she felt.

"Oh not much, only all your ZPMs and a copy of the Atlantis database. Also, there is another, even more precious item here and you will help me to find it!"

"Wonderful, so we either give you what you want, lose the power to raise the shield and die at the hand of the Wraith or refuse and get killed by you!" Rodney concluded with his trademark mixture of sarcasm and despair. "A nice way to thank us considering that you would still be one of the Wraith lackeys without our help!"

"You have brought this upon yourself when you refused to ally with us!" Veldrin retorted, eyes narrowing in irritation. "Spare me your childish defiance, McKay; we both know I can force you to help me. I'm not cruel but it might not be wise to test my patience any longer if you want to come out of here unscratched! Am I clear?"

"Wait a moment!" Weir interrupted, "If you take the ZPM with you, the Wraith will take this city sooner or later! With access to the Ancient database, they would be twice as dangerous as they are now! Maybe they could even find a way to disable the Ray Cannon, making Shakuras as vulnerable as every other planet. Do you really want to risk this when we could be much more valuable as allies?"

"I will not justify my decisions to you," the Gith stated coolly, "especially not now when there is much to be done! Zyris! Get into the database and show me the most detailed map of Atlantis you can find! Preferably one that shows which part of the city is inhabited and what it is used for!"

A short grey-haired Gith – probably Zyris – stopped threatening a couple of scientists with what looked like a Genii pistol and approached one of the consoles, his fingers rapidly pressing various buttons. McKay swore silently and Elizabeth thought she knew the reason why: only days ago he and Zelenka had finished an impressive three-dimensional model of the city, including the very same information Veldrin wanted. Indeed, it took Zyris less than a minute to produce the image in question and convert it into a detailed holographic image that now hovered about thirty centimeters above their heads. The Evincar smiled in a satisfied way and extracted what looked like a sphere of ice out of his armor. Suddenly a second hologram overlaid the first, creating a dazzling display of light and color. Elizabeth noticed that the second one was yet another map of Atlantis, differently colored and apparently slightly different than the first.

Veldrin studied the layout for some time and seemed very pleased about something when he finally tore his eyes from the sparkling display. Weir was quite certain that whatever the reason for his delight was, it wouldn't be pleasant for them.

"Let's get into action! Belbe, you will scout the area around this room! Take care of all remaining guards and especially take out any members of Sheppard's team! Kill if you must but I would prefer to have Sheppard and Teyla alive. Discreetly contact Lieutenant Ford and find out whether he is willing to co-operate with us! Otherwise kill him; he's too dangerous to be left alive. Know that it doesn't matter if you're forced to eliminate someone I ordered to be spared as they will not survive the night anyway!"

"As you command, Evincar," the female Gith said, her face completely inscrutable. As she used her amulet to vanish from view, Elizabeth wondered whether the bounty hunter was troubled by these orders, after all Lieutenant Ford seemed the only person she really felt attached to. Perhaps she thought Ford would betray them to save himself? Weir was quite certain that wouldn't happen but with the enzyme still flowing through his veins no one knew exactly what the Lieutenant would do.

"Darius! Take some of the men and secure the ZPM!" Veldrin ordered, breaking her concentration. "Extract it at my order and bring it on board of i Predator /i but not before Zyris has finished copying the Atlantis database! Eliminate everyone that stands in your path!"

"And what I am supposed to do?" Kolya asked with a hint of displeasure in his voice. "Remember that this is as much my revenge as yours!"

"You will stay here and take command while I retrieve something from the bowels of the city. I'll take McKay along, so you won't have to endure his constant bickering! Besides, his experience with the city's systems might come in handy. Do what has to be done but don't risk our victory by going after Sheppard himself! Belbe is far more qualified to track people down and if you stick to the plan, he will be dead before the sun rises again!"

Kolya nodded and his Gith ally wasted no time, indicating Rodney to follow him. The astrophysicist hesitated at first but got moving when the Evincar drew one of his daggers and Elizabeth threw him a glance that meant 'play along, I'm sure John or one of the others will get us out of this mess'. She had no reason to be that confident for a considerable part of the night shift was already out cold, the majority of Atlantis' population was asleep and she had no idea what John, Ford, Teyla and Ronon were doing at the moment. For all she knew, they were asleep in their quarters, completely unaware of the disaster that loomed above their heads.

"He won't save you this time, Weir," Kolya said with a smile that made Antarctica seem like a tropical beach. "You won't wiggle out of this one!"

Weir could only hope he was wrong.

- - - - -

"Where are we going?" McKay asked Veldrin as they walked through the deserted corridors of Atlantis.

"We'll make a sojourn through time, McKay and lift a forbidden secret left by our weak brethren – trust me it will be fun!" the Evincar responded, sounding a lot more friendly and jovial as before. Perhaps the distance to Kolya was lightening his mood.

"And how exactly are we going to travel through time?" he wondered, his professional interest overruling his caution.

"I was speaking metaphorically but it will be interesting nevertheless, we're almost there now!"

Rodney was quite surprised when the Gith led him into the hall that housed the holographic history of Atlantis. What exactly did he want to find here? Was he interested in what had happened to the Ancients after their attack on Shakuras? Indeed, Veldrin approached the podium that activated the holographic display and placed his hand on it. To Rodney's surprise, nothing happened. Then the Evincar spoke in Ancient, apparently reciting a poem or mantra. The astrophysicist's Ancient was the best on Atlantis it was still quite difficult to follow the words.

i "Justice is toothless without punishment. Righteousness cannot succeed without the suffering of the guilty/i "

This seemed such an odd statement from someone as ruthless as Veldrin that Rodney wondered whether he had mistranslated the words. Before he could come to a conclusion, a blinding light filled the room and he found himself … elsewhere. He and the Gith Evincar were standing in a small semicircular room that resembled a transporter. The other half of the wall formed a huge doorway towards a much larger room, bathed in soft silver light. An odd purple light seemed to glow deeper somewhere in it but he couldn't see what caused it.

"Wonderful!" Veldrin said, "We're almost there! Follow me and don't try anything!"

As the wondered towards the source of the glare, Rodney noticed that this part of Atlantis seemed far less ornamental than the rest of the city and had a distinct air of foreboding as if they weren't supposed to be here. Finally they reached their destination and realized that the odd light was radiating from a roughly fist-sized crystal that floated unsuspended in midair. It looked like a shard of a ZPM although McKay had never encountered a purple one. Its glare seemed to fluctuate slightly, giving it the impression of a dark, pulsing heart. Like in warning a hardly visible energy shield surrounded the shard, either to keep it from being stolen or trapping it in place. On the floor and on the ceiling, a beautifully crafted array of crystals enclosed the energy barrier, casting a soft silvery light that contrasted with the much stronger glare of the shard.

"Exactly as I had expected," his companion said, "all left to do is getting rid of this annoying shield. But that's why I have you with me!"

Rodney debated simply refusing but when Veldrin noticed his hesitation and drew his knives, he was forcefully reminded that he had no chance. Without any weapon – preferably a gun – there was no way he might overpower or escape the Gith. If he wanted to avoid getting killed, he would have no choice but to play along. Unfortunately he had no idea how he would deactivate the shield for there wasn't a console in sight and a mental command didn't seem to work either. The only indication he had was the sparkling array of crystals so he bent over to examine it more closely. A slightly electrical charge surrounded the gemstones, causing the astrophysicist to suspect that some of the gemstones powered the field while others were merely ornamental. The lifesign detector Veldrin handed him confirmed his presumption, even though it was unable to distinguish between the charged crystals and the merely ornamental ones due to the high number of interferences.

Cursing under his breath, McKay realized that whoever had designed this room had been very keen on keeping the field active and had done an excellent job of making switching it off as difficult as possible. He was confident that he could disable the device if he knew which of the gemstones weren't just for show. There had to be some kind of pattern in the design, some clue he had overlooked. Frustrated, he tried to will it open another time, simply because he was rampantly running out of ideas. Expectantly, nothing happened but for a moment Rodney felt something brushing against his consciousness. It wasn't palpable at all and for all he knew, he could have imagined it. However, the next time his eyes fell on the crystals, everything fell into place. Suddenly he knew how the field was being generated and what he had to do to deactivate it.

"Do your daggers conduct electricity?" he asked Veldrin, both puzzled and elated by this sudden brainwave.

The Gith looked quite perplexed by this odd question. "Only the blades, the hilts are specially isolated. Why?"

"I need one of them to disable the field," Rodney responded, becoming aware that the Evincar was eying him with open distrust. "Look, I need it and there is no way I could overpower you with it anyway. So there is no reason to be afraid."

Veldrin snorted and tossed him one of the blades, nevertheless looking slightly more vigilant than before as if a single knife would be any use against a much more skilled combatant. Not paying the Gith any more heed, McKay carefully used the dagger to connect two of the glowing crystals. The effect was as a sudden flash of light and wild arrays of electricity that danced along the marvelous pattern of gemstones. The isolated hilt kept the astrophysicist from any damage – the current used to power such a containment field was strong enough to kill or severely injure a human – but still he mistrusted his apparent safety and wished he could just drop the dagger and get out of harm's way.

Unfortunately, the short circuit he had initiated would needed to be active for some time before the delicate crystals overloaded and collapsed under the stress – what would effectively rob the field from its power supply. He knew now that the apparently ornamental pieces had really worked as isolation material between several highly charged ones that couldn't handle any further electricity. Together, the crystals spread the energy evenly – thus creating the perfectly round field –, a system that was close to impossible to disrupt unless the meddling person knew exactly what to do. How exactly he knew all this was a mystery to McKay but this unsettling question was completely wiped from his brain when the shield vanished, exposing their query.

The shard continued floating on its own and its radiance seemed to grow brighter for a few moments before Veldrin's hand closed around it, nearly smothering the glare. Since it was slightly larger than his fist, some of the light remained, bathing his face in a purplish glow that gave him a haunted, eerie look.

"Excellent work, McKay," he said, "maybe I won't kill you after all. But I'm sure you're wondering why I wanted this crystal so badly. Let me show you Twilight's might! Mortanius, grant me the power I am due to!"

The crystal's radiance increased tenfold, enveloping the Evincar's body and blinding Rodney with its glare. A strange nauseating feeling began to spread through his body, as if the radiance had somehow tainted him. Keeping his eyes shut, he staggered away from the Evincar, hoping that distance would ease whatever effects the shard had one him. Indeed, he was beginning to feel slightly better and thought that he might use the situation to his advantage. If he could reach the transporter before whatever ritual Veldrin had invoked was finished, he might do something to retake Atlantis from the Gith. Finding Sheppard sounded like a very good idea; the Colonel would know that to do. Opening his eyes slightly to orient himself, he realized that he had almost reached his destination; only a few meters separated him from safety – or at least relative safety. He reached towards the control crystal when a horrible voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Stay where you are, fleshworm, I am not finished with you now!"

The voice was definitely not Veldrin's, in fact, it didn't sound very human at all. It reminded McKay of mirrors shattering and was dripping with an unmatched, ancient hatred. Transfixed, Rodney turned around slowly, wondering if facing whoever this voice belonged to was a good idea.

As it turned out the voice belonged to Veldrin but the Evincar had … changed. All color seemed to have drained from his person, leaving his skin a dusty gray that looked ghastly in the purplish twilight of the room. His formerly grey streaked hair had turned back to jet black and his face was now smooth and unlined again. These changes might have made him look younger if not for the hard, almost feral, impression edged on his features. The transformation also seemed to have affected his clothing, which now seemed to swirl slightly even though there wasn't any current in the room. The cloak he wore above his armor had turned so dark it rather resembled a piece of darkness itself than an actual garment. On his chest the crystal shard he had called Twilight had fused with his armor, pulsing softly with purple energy. However, the most disturbing change involved his eyes which had turned from an icy blue to a ghastly purple. That a rather insane grin was playing on the Gith's transformed features didn't do much to reassure the astrophysicist.

"Freedom! Finally! After 10.000 years of imprisonment, I have thwarted my captors! They will regret the moment they have opposed me!" the former Highexecutor said, though his words made no sense to Rodney. "I should thank you, fleshworm. After all I own you my freedom even though Veldrin played no small role in this ruse. You were smart enough to draw the right conclusions from the information I implanted into your brain – no small feat considering you're not even an Ancient! Maybe I shouldn't kill you but, on the other hand, it's very entertaining…"

The creature – Rodney was quite sure by now that he wasn't talking to Veldrin at all – suddenly froze and some kind of spasm raked its body. It only lasted a second and once it has passed, Veldrin's eyes had turned back to blue and a scowl had replaced the insane grin on his face.

"Damn you Mortanius! Never try something like this again! I'm your ally and not some kind of vessel for your spirit! Remember that without me you are nothing more than a trinket!"

McKay decided not to ponder on the Evincar's strange soliloquy and made a dash to the transporter instead. Suddenly, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise and narrowly twisted his head aside in time to avoid the energy blast that slammed into wall on his left, peppering him with shrapnel. Recovering quickly, Rodney reached the crystal and activated the transporter, glad to have at least temporally slipped out of the Gith's grasp.

- - - - -

John felt pleasantly exhausted as he made his way towards his quarters, still in his work-out clothes. He had felt oddly restless this night and had considered a good long run the best way to spend his spare energy. Now, he longed for a shower and his bed. Usually he turned in sooner – after all it was almost half past one now – and wondered what had caused his disquiet. His thoughts were interrupted when he rounded a corner and someone crashed right into him. It turned out that this someone was McKay who looked oddly frightened and instantly started talking when he recognized the Colonel.

"Colonel! Thank god, I have found you! They have taken the Control Room and want to steal the ZPM. The military personnel is out cold and the other staff – including Elizabeth – is being held captive. I don't know how much of the city they control right now but we have to act quickly!"

"Woah, woah Rodney slow down! Who took the Gate Room?"

"The Gith of course! Veldrin and Belbe are here, accompanied by Kolya and about a dozen men! Kolya is in charge of the control room while Belbe is searching the city for you, Teyla and Ford!"

"And Veldrin? What is he doing in the moment?" John asked, his tiredness forgotten.

An oddly haunted look spread on Rodney's face when he answered. "He forced me to help him retrieving an Ancient artifact. It was a crystal, looked a bit like a splinter of a ZPM. It was stored in a hidden room somewhere beneath the city. Once he had the crystal it transformed him and it seemed like he had another consciousness in his mind like I had after this unfortunate incident with the Dart. This other personality was quite mad, raving something about being locked up for 10.000 years and how it would have his revenge now! Anyway, the crystal apparently gives his wielder some control about the energy stored within it – in Veldrin's case this resulted in several energy bolts launched into my direction. So we might want to stay out of his way until we have found a way to counter his new powers!"

"Rodney, I'll now ask you something very important: How did Veldrin call the crystal?" Sheppard didn't know why but had the feeling that it was essential to know this.

"I think he called it Twilight but I'm not sure. I had other things in mind; staying alive mostly. Why is this important?"

The name seemed to echo through John's mind and memories bubbled up from the depths of his consciousness, memories that wasn't his own. In his memory, a handsome man clad in strange foreign clothes spoke to him, his words warm and caring. He was somewhere in his thirties with short raven hair, a neatly trimmed goatee and violet eyes that beamed with delight. Strangely enough, the spare shadows in the room seem to cling to him as if they were trying to pull him into their lightless depths.

"I have succeeded my love," the stranger said, "nothing will separate us from now on!"

The man then dissolved into shadows and surged forward, engulfing John's imaginary body completely. Just as he was about to scream, the image dissolved and he found himself in a damp, shadowy hall. He saw a pulsing purple crystal which he know to be Twilight, shimmering beneath the energy field that kept his powers at bay, its eerie light both beckoning and repulsing him. The vision abruptly faded and he was back in the present, his mind filled with knowledge that wasn't his own.

He found Rodney looking at him impatiently and wondered how long he had been lost in these strange visions. Sheppard still wasn't sure what exactly had just happened but he know more about the crystal shard than before and thought McKay should know what he had just learned.

"Twilight contains the essence of an ascendant Ancient, giving its wielder limited control over the prisoner's power. That would explain these energy bolts Veldrin launched at you and why he was so eager to find it. Probably it will take some time before he finds out how to tap its power properly and before the entity within has recovered from its long imprisonment. We have to act quickly and recover Twilight before this happens or I fear we will be powerless to stop him!"

"What? How do you know this?" the astrophysicist asked, confusion written on his face

"I'm don't know, I just had some kind of vision and once I snapped out of it, I just knew. Maybe the Ancient gene… of course, Chaya!"

"Chaya? The hot alien priestess you laid? What does she have to do with this?"

"First of all, I didn't lay her, at least not in the usual sense. She did this kind of mind fusion thing with me so we would get to know us better and I think she passed this knowledge along at this occasion – whether conscious or not. Strange though, because the rest was rather personal stuff, you know what she likes and doesn't like, how the last 10.000 years where for her but no hardly anything about her life on Atlantis. And nothing about Ancient technology, otherwise I would be the expert for alien technology right now and you would be unemployed. Apparently, some of the knowledge was buried in my subconscious and resurfaced when you told me of the crystal. But we should get moving I would like to reach the armory before the Gith do!"

"Do you think there is more knowledge locked in the bowels of your mind?" Rodney whispered as they moved stealthily but quickly through the bowels of Atlantis, trying to avoid whatever Gith patrols scouted the area near the Control Room.

"Guess so," the Colonel answered, "but I'm pretty sure I won't suddenly know everything about Ancient technology, if that's what you're hoping for. Chaya's superiors wouldn't have allowed her sharing all their secrets!"

"Pity, having a real expert around would make my work a lot easier. You know what puzzles me? All the knowledge she passed was interesting but worthless except the information about a dangerous artifact on Atlantis. She risked the other ascendants' wrath by passing it to you, the very same beings who had punished her before. So the question is: Why is Twilight important for Chaya? Does she sympathize with the Ancient trapped inside since they're both disgraced?"

An odd crawling sensation spread through John's forehead and he suddenly knew something about Chaya's interest in the crystal shard he hadn't know before.

"I think the being inside is her husband."

- - - - -

Invisible and well out of reach, Belbe calmly observed the hulking warrior beneath her, pondering what would be the right course of action. About one and a half meter beneath her, the Satedan Ronon Dex methodically scanned the room, searching for the foe he knew to be nearby. She didn't know how the brute had noticed her arrival; after all she had been invisible when she had entered the room but still he had known immediately that something was wrong. Preferring to start fights on her own terms, the bounty hunter had sought higher ground, magnetizing her gloves to give her additional hold on Atlantis polished metal walls.

At the moment, she wondered whether to attack the brute or sneak by him. On the one hand, she wanted to find Aiden fast and a brawl would certainly delay her. On the other hand, she had been order to take anybody out who stood in her path, especially members of Sheppard's team. Deciding not to risk Veldrin's displeasure without a very good reason, she moved closer to the Satedan, readying to ambush the brute. Dex seemed unaware of her approach, instead focusing on the other side of the room, as if the enemy he was searching for lurked there.

"Ronon Dex, Sheppard's new lapdog," a familiar voice said. "Finally, we meet!"

Dex spun around to face his new opponent which turned out to be no one less than the Evincar himself. Veldrin had changed a lot since Belbe had last seen him, acquiring an odd, shadowy look that made him seem to melt with the patches of darkness around him. His cloak seemed like a piece of living darkness, melting and reforming around him. A crystal was attached to his armor, its flickering light contrasting with his rather gray skin. The bounty hunter guessed the crystal was the artifact Veldrin had searched so badly for and was pretty sure that his strange transformation was caused by it. Maybe this was the perfect opportunity to find out what powers the shard granted its bearer and probably the former Highexecutor would take care of the Satedan as wall, – all she had to do was to lie low and watch the show.

Ronon didn't waste any time with formalities and opened fire immediately. Veldrin made no movement to doge the incoming blast and closed one of his hands around the crystal instead. Just in time, a sphere of midnight black energy enclosed the Evincar, absorbing the rays with ease.

"You cannot defeat me Satedan," Veldrin stated, dismissing the protective sphere, "not with Twilight on my side. Now, I'll destroy you as I have engineered your people's destruction at the hands of the Wraith!"

Belbe winced inwardly. Her role in the destruction of Sateda was nothing the Necroshade was proud of. She usually considered herself above the meaningless morals of other races but helping to plot and execute genocide troubled her as well. A little more than seven years ago the Wraith were preparing an attack on Sateda but were unsure how to properly crush the humans' defense. Probably to demonstrate how useful his minions were, the then-Evincar Crovax had asked Veldrin to come up with a suitable plan of attack and the Highexecutor had happily obeyed. Not only it was a tactical challenge, it also allowed him to seriously weaken a potential rival for an eventual Gith empire without getting his hands dirty. She had infiltrated Sateda on his orders, collecting required information and sabotaging their defense prior to the attack.

The culling had been devastating for Sateda, reducing most major settlements of the planet to rubble, completely destroying the defensive forces and exterminating almost 98 percent of the population. The Wraith had been quite impressed by the Gith's abilities and Veldrin had been beaming with joy for about a month, gloating over his success. Belbe herself had been less delighted by the outcome, feeling a pang of regret at the great scale of deaths her action had caused. The notion had been briefly, of course, but she still didn't like thinking about this particular mission. The sound of struggle jerked her back into the present and she realized that she had missed part of the confrontation during her musing.

The two combatants were sprawled on the floor, engaged in what looked like a crude wrestling match, including a very wicked looking knife that was currently dangerously close to Veldrin's throat. Apparently, Ronon had tackled the Evincar shortly after his statement, a strategy Veldrin probably hadn't anticipated. At the moment, the tide seems to favor the Satedan who used his superior strength to hold the Gith down. Belbe's superior seemed quite hard pressed to keep his opponent from slicing open his throat and the bounty hunter wondered whether she should intervene. She had the distinct feeling that the Evincar didn't trust her as much as he used to be and saving his life might undo her fall-from-grace. On the other hand, letting the Satedan kill him would be an elegant way to free herself of his control and regain the freedom she had missed in the last weeks.

Before she could come to a conclusion, one of Veldrin's hands closed around Twilight and pushed Dex of him with a telekinetic blast. Panting, he the Evincar got back on his feet, his features distorted into a scowl. His opponent recovered almost as quickly and tried to bring his weapon to bear while the other man couldn't defend himself properly.

A bolt of purple energy erupted from the Gith's hands, only narrowly missing Dex who had managed to throw himself aside on time. Ronon fired again only to witness Veldrin dissolve into shadows and reforming himself a bit to the left, avoiding the fire with ease. The Evincar's next blast found its mark, hitting his bigger opponent straight in the chest and felling him like a tree. As the Satedan tried to sit up but didn't finish the movement, his face contorting as if in pain. The crystal in the Evincar's armor glowed brighter and Belbe suspected that it somehow kept Dex from moving. Supporting her theory, Veldrin calmly picked up Ronon's gun and aimed at the helpless ex-Runner, malicious joy in his eyes.

"I guess it's time to end your meaningless existence," the other Gith said with a slightly purple sheen in his eyes. "After all what is a soldier without a home to protect? I doubt that galaxy will miss you, there are more than enough mindless brutes out there! Farewell, Ronon Dex, I sure oblivion will suit you!"

Veldrin then finished Dex with three shots of his own gun, before dropping the weapon and vanishing into the corridors again. Still cloaked, she dropped to the ground and picked up Ronon's gun, guessing that it might come in handy in what she was about to do.

"Maybe your life was meaningless," she said to the motionless former runner, "but your death has helped me a great deal!"

- - - - -

Aiden signed heavily and turned his gaze from the ocean below. He had hardly moved at all since the encounter with Teyla, still pondering on the events of the past days. He wasn't any closer to an answer than he had been before but now he felt exhausted enough to try to get some sleep. Just as he was about to walk away, someone grabbed him from behind and started to do delicious things to his neck. Ford was shocked for a time but then relaxed and started to enjoy the attention Teyla granted him.

"What made you change your mind?" he asked the Athosian, remembering that she had not reacted at all when he had kissed her earlier.

"What do you mean?" a voice which wasn't Teyla's answered. "I have always thought you're gorgeous!"

Shell-shocked, the Lieutenant spun around to face the speaker and found himself face to face with a certain Gith bounty hunter.

"Belbe? What the hell are you doing here?" he inquired, pretty sure that disaster was brewing above his head. Visits from Belbe always seemed to stir up trouble and the fact that she had breached Atlantis and wore full armor didn't do much to reassure him.

"Did you expect someone else? You look rather shocked to see me," Belbe stated, completely ignoring his question.

"Of course, I didn't expect you; we're on Atlantis for heaven's sake. Now answer me: How did you get here and what do you want?"

All the humor vanished from Belbe's face, her expression becoming unreadable again. Whatever she had to tell him, it probably wasn't going to be pleasant.

"I've come to warn you, Veldrin has taken control over Atlantis and it currently stripping the place of anything valuable. He ordered me to scout the city and capture any senior officers I find, probably so he can finally take revenge on Sheppard. However, he left special orders concerning you since you have been quite at odds with the rest of the Lanteans in the past. He thinks you might be of assistance and offers you join us. I think you would be well-advised to accept this offer since he ordered you to be killed should you refuse!"

"Thanks but no thanks!" Aiden replied without even considering the offer. "I won't betray my friends!"

"You mean you won't betray them again," the bounty hunter responded matter-of-factly. "After all you weren't entirely dripping with remorse when you tried to kill them on Arborea or when you abandon them on this backwater planet Entreri brought you! Their petty morals shouldn't keep you from doing what has to be done!"

"Their 'petty morals' are mine as well – or at least they once were. Despite all that happened, I still think of them as my friends and I don't want to lose them again. Do you think I liked roaming the galaxy on my own? Hunting all the time without any real place to stay? I'm not like you Belbe, I can't exist purely on my own!"

"You won't have to; despite all that could happen on Shakuras we would still have each other! I know it probably won't be easy but once Veldrin's trust in me is restored I can make life easy for you. I'm sure your friends will survive the night and you are in even more danger than they at the moment. Let me help you, Aiden, I could never forgive myself if something happened to you!"

Aiden felt quite touched by this display of trust and his resolve faltered for some time. Was there some truth in her words? He wondered how it would be to life on Shakuras, serving in the ranks of the Gith Legion. He was pretty sure they wouldn't mind him taking the enzyme and the part of him that felt somehow imprisoned here on Atlantis rejoiced at the thought. But wasn't he just swapping one imprisonment for the other? He would be the helpless object of Veldrin's whims, a prospect that was hardly appealing. As much he craved the enzyme, he doubted that becoming the henchmen of a ruthless tyrant would be worth it. Besides, he had no idea what feelings the Evincar harbored for him and was convinced that facing his eventual displeasure would be quite displeasing. No, betraying his friends again was neither the right nor the smart thing to do. Ford wondered whether the bounty hunter would accept his decision.

"I'm sorry, Belbe but I can't do that!" he said, feeling a genuine sadness he could not quite explain. "I don't want to become Veldrin's whipping boy and I can't abandon my friends. They treated me far better than I had deserved and I think I own them to stay!"

"Your loyalty is admirable but you'll doom yourself! Veldrin has changed! He has found some kind of crystal here on Atlantis and it has transformed him into something far more powerful! If you're lucky, he'll just take everything he needs and leave Atlantis but he could just as likely choose to kill all of you! Your pet Satedan already paid the price of his defiance!"

"One more reason I have to help my friends!" Aiden responded, deciding not to ponder on what exactly had happened to the Satedan. He didn't consider it wise to test his resolve at the moment. "I have to find Sheppard; he will know what to do!"

As his gaze met Belbe's eyes again, he realized that all warmth had left the bounty hunter's eyes, leaving only a steely resolve behind. The fact that he was talking to Veldrin's second-in-command came back to his mind and he subtly shifted into a defense position. It probably wouldn't do him much good for the Necroshade vastly outgunned but he felt slightly safer nevertheless.

"Belbe? Are you alright?" he asked.

The bounty hunter didn't answer – or at least not verbally. Instead, a crashing blow hit his stomach, driving all the wind out of him and causing him to topple over in pain. Another only slightly gentler punch at the back of his head sent him to the ground and turned the world into a haze of mingling sensations. From what seemed to be very far away, Belbe spoke to him her voice filled with something that might pass for regret.

"I don't want to do this but you leave me no choice. I don't know why but Veldrin doesn't trust me anymore and I have to fix this before he considers me expandable. I'm no fool: I knew this mission was some kind of a test the moment he sent me on it. You should have listened to me, after all I was the one who saved you back on this damned Hive Ship! But now you'll have to die if I am to life!"

"Touching but I would rather stay alive!" Ford replied and tackled her to get back into a less vulnerable position. Unfortunately, the bounty hunter recovered unnaturally quick and responded with a flurry of blows he only narrowly managed to block. The opponents spent the next few seconds circling each other, each waiting for an opportunity to strike. Too late Aiden realized that one of Belbe's hands had wandered dangerously close to one of the many pockets in her cloak and made a desperate attack to stop her from getting whatever she was trying to find.

"Gotcha," the Gith commented before deftly side-stepping the attack and vanishing from view.

Aiden knew now that the move had been a bluff devised to draw his attention away from Belbe's most valuable possession – the amulet that turned her invisible. Since she had to touch it in order to cloak herself, he could have easily disrupted the process if he hadn't misread her intention. He had barely the time to ponder on his mistake before the Necroshade became visible again with Ronon's gun pressed against his forehead.

"Farewell Aiden," she whispered, "you really should have accepted my offer!"

A/N Allright fellas, that was the penultimate Chapter of Twilight's Embrace. Stay tuned while I write the final which I hope to have finished by Christmas the lastest


	6. Salvation

Chapter 6: Salvation

_Our gene therapy turned out to be a great success, granting the recipients the ability to leave their bodies behind without losing their intelligence in the process. Unfortunately, it seemed to work properly on only about 30 per cent of the population, leaving a great number of us unable to reach this higher state of existence. Since we had no actual information about what cause this anomaly, my fellow researches considered it impossible to repair. I couldn't accept this answer and continued researching on my own, determined to prove them wrong. I will not rest until I've found a solution that will allow all of us to ascend!_

_––Bioengineer Mortanius, Ascension Theory, epilogue _

Aiden Ford had been quite fond of the idea that in the moment of your death your entire life passes in front of your eyes. However, nothing happened when Belbe aimed at him and he wondered whether this absence of a near-death experience was a good sign or not. Once again, he searched for some sign of mercy in the bounty hunter's eyes but her face was as inscrutable as always. Only the fact that something seemed to keep her from pulling the trigger fed that small hope that he would survive the night. Did she like him enough to overcome her instinct of self preservation and her fear of the Evincar's wrath? Or did some much more profane reason keep the ever calculation Gith from pulling the trigger? Whatever her reasons – even though he vastly preferred the first – her hesitation might give him the advantage he needed to get out of this mess. He wasn't entirely sure how he would do it but it felt good to have an option again. But whatever he was about to do, he would have to do it as inconspicuous as possible for she would certainly finish him off, if she found out what he was up to.

Before he had figured out what he would do, the bounty hunter surprised him again by moving her gun away from his face.

"Whom am I kidding? We both know that I can't kill you! You bastard just doomed both of us!"

"I can't decide whether to sign in relief or to get angry because you actually seem to regret that you haven't killed me," Aiden commented as he got back to his feet. "But thanks for not killing me anyway!"

"I have only suspended your death," Belbe said, sounding unusually fatalistic. "Your foolish loyalty will get you killed anyway! Fighting Veldrin is suicide as long as he wields the crystal shard. Trust me; I know when someone is out of my league.

"I can't just step back and let him run rampage on Atlantis. I'm sure Sheppard or McKay will find a solution and they will properly need my help since most of the city is asleep."

Belbe's gaze softened slightly. "I wished you were as loyal to me as you are to them. You'll probably find them near the armory, provided that they get there before Veldrin's henchmen do. Hurry, I'll be missed soon and you don't want any attention with what you want to do!

"Thanks," the Lieutenant said, "but what are you going to do?"

"Save my life by getting the hell out of here! Veldrin probably won't allow me to stay alive for very much longer and the chances that I'll find a way to dispel his distrust are bordering to zero. I have taken some precautions and if I can reach a planet with a 'gate, chances are quite high that I can slip through his fingers. Getting there might prove a little difficult but since my fall-from-grace is still a secret, most of the others probably won't question one of my orders so I might have the advantage of surprise. Don't worry about me, just try to stay alive!"

"Okay," Aiden replied and was pulled into yet another kiss, parting one this time.

Breaking the contact, the bounty hunter moved away from him and the Lieutenant thought he saw a tear on her striking features before she turned away. Just as she was about to vanish into the corridors, she hesitated and faced him again.

"Here, this might come in handy," she said, pulling a tear-shaped bluish crystal out of her cloak. "Remember not to…"

"Fraternizing with the enemy, conspiracy and desertion, I must admit I'm surprised by the extent of your treachery, Necroshade! Is it lust that drives you? Greed? Part of a scheme to get more power? Or are you simply tired of taking orders?"

The voice came from the sea below and suddenly living darkness emerged from beneath the balcony, reforming into Veldrin once it had reached solid ground.

"You will never understand what drives me anyway!" Belbe retorted, aiming at him with Ronon's gun. "So we can skip the prelude and try to kill each other straight away!"

She didn't waste any time and opened fire immediately, hitting her superior straight into the chest with one ray. Veldrin grimaced in pain but the energy that danced on his from didn't seem to seriously injure him. His retribution was a shimmering sliver globe of energy that detonated right next to the bounty hunter, its shockwave ravaging the balcony.

Aiden's consciousness was snuffed out the moment the energy touched his flesh.

- - - - -

"Are they dead?" Veldrin asked, studying the still forms of Belbe and Ford.

_"Does it matter?"_ Mortanius replied inside his head, sounding bored. The Evincar still had to get used to the feeling of another consciousness in his brain and definitely didn't like the Bioengineer's lack of enthusiasm. Still, he kept his emotions in check; as Belbe had been fond of saying, power was power and the Ancient was a formidable ally indeed.

"You know what the point of executing someone is, right?" he asked. "What exactly did I do to them by the way?

_"Basically, the sphere you threw at them was a little homage to your glacier grenades. Inside, temperature was close to the absolute minimum and since warmth tries to spread evenly, the resulting implosion sucked all the warmth out of them. Even very resistant organisms like Wraith will die from hypothermia within one minute after the exposure. So to answer your question: yes, they are dead!"_

"Better to make sure," the Evincar said to no one in particular and approached the bodies.

He briefly and unsuccessfully checked Ford's carotid artery for a pulse and was just about to raise again when a sudden wave of nausea hit him. The world started spinning and a flaring pain spread in his abdomen. The pain got worse every second and he had the distinct feeling that something was very wrong.

"What is happening?"

_"The __Satedan's__ weapon is affecting you. I thought partly ascending would make you immune to its effect but apparently it only delayed the damage. I assume the energy is currently lignifying most of your internal organs. May I suggest doing something against it?"_

"And what am I supposed to do against it?" Veldrin snapped back, trying to concentrate through the pain

_"Concentrate on Twilight, tap __it's__ power like you did before but channel it through your body and imagine your flesh is mending itself. It will be unpleasant but you'll life!_

To the Gith this sounded like esoteric gibbering but he did was he was told nevertheless since it could hardly worsen his situation. Indeed, a soft purple energy enshrouded him and the pain eased slightly. Then he realized what Mortanius had meant with the healing process being unpleasant.

- - - - -

Aiden inwardly screamed when he was brutally yanked back into consciousness. He felt frozen solid and billons of tiny needles seemed to puncture every square millimeter of his skin. Most disturbing was that something strange and foreign had entered his body, a presence in his mind that felt comforting and menacing at the same time. Before he could form a straight thought, the pain became even worse, agony blotting out most other sensation.

_"If you want to life, don't scream. Do whatever you want to endure the pain but don't scream. He will kill you if you do!"_

Suddenly, everything came back: the fight with Belbe, Veldrin's arrival, a brief skirmish and a sliver sphere, followed by cold and darkness. Had he been dead or just unconscious? What had reanimated him and where did this voice in his head come from?

_"So many questions, so little time", the eerie voice commented. "I doubt you have been dead, close maybe but not technically dead. You're feeling better because Veldrin is using Twilight to heal himself right next to you and some of the energy flows into your body instead of his. And to answer your last question: I am Mortanius the Nightwalker, the being that is trapped within Twilight. Does this satisfy your curiosity?"_

Ford didn't answer immediately for another wave of pain wracked his body, followed by a strange yet comforting numbness that spread from his face through the rest of his organism. Warmth followed the numbness and for the first time since his awakening he was certain that all his limps were still attached to his body. Breathing became easier and he finally could focus on the conversation with Mortanius again.

He wasn't sure what to think about the Nightwalker. He was Veldrin's ally yet he had helped him surviving one of the Evincar's attacks. He wondered what the strange being had to gain from helping him. As before, Mortanius picked up his thoughts and answered him directly.

_"I helped you out of several reasons: First of all, I wanted to show my generous host that one shouldn't use Twilight's healing powers next to an enemy. But the more important reason was that I'm bored. After what I read in __Veldrin's__ memories I had expect much more resistance from you and __Belbe__, defeating both of you so easily simply didn't feel right. Don't get me wrong: I will still kill you with pleasure but the next time please try to make it more interesting, 10.000 years of dullness were more than enough. I will leave now, don't move until Veldrin is gone or you will ruin my fun and I really don't like that!"_

Aiden felt the strange presence leave his mind and was glad that his mind was all his again. Not daring to open his eyes, he only heard Veldrin move away from him and wondered what the Evincar would do next. While he wondered what he would do if the Gith decided to check on him again, an unfamiliar voice broke the silence.

"Evincar, this is Zyris. Can you hear me?"

"Speak, Loremaster," Veldrin replied, apparently talking to a radio – or however the Gith might call their equivalent.

"I have finished copying the Atlantis database and am almost ready to transfer it to Predator. Our team has secured the ZPM and will remove it on your order. What are your next orders?"

"I found what I have been looking for and will head back to the Control Room. Once I am there we can plan our next moves!"

"Understood, Zyris over!"

The Lieutenant heard Veldrin move away from him but didn't dare to move until the Evincar's steps had faded away. Groaning, he got back to his feet and opened his eyes, wincing at the sudden brightness. He felt slightly dizzy and there was a lingering coldness in his limps but at least he was alive. Scanning the balcony for Belbe and Veldrin, he found the bounty hunter's still form slumped against the railing. She looked even paler than usual and part of her armor seemed to have been disintegrated by the blast. Expecting the worst, Aiden run to her side and felt her pulse.

Nothing. Belbe was dead.

Since he had always seen her as an ally with benefits rather than a friend, Ford was surprised how much the bounty hunter's death saddened him. He had always thought that nothing short of a super nova could kill the Necroshade and it felt quite unreal to see her in this state. He saw a bitter irony in the situation: In refusing to kill him, Belbe had actually valued another human's life as much as her own and the reward for this good deed was her death at Veldrin's hands. Life really had a cruel humor.

"Farwell, Belbe," he whispered, taking her right hand. The gauntlets she always wore had been destroyed so her icy flesh chilled him but at the moment Aiden could care less. "Don't worry! I will make sure Veldrin pays for what he did to you! See it as thanks for all you have done for me."

As he left the balcony Aiden didn't feel the pain anymore. Instead a cold, murderous fury filled him, urging him to destroy anyone who stood in his way. First he would find Sheppard and together they would take care of the Gith.

Mortanius would soon regret healing him.

- - - - -

For a few seconds after entering the 'gate room Veldrin wondered why everyone was staring at him. Then he remembered his transformation and noticed that he hadn't seen himself in a mirror since allying with Mortanius. It was quite possible that partly ascending had physically changed him, probably to an appearance fitting the Nightwalker's taste. He made a mental note of checking his reflection even though it didn't really bother him. He was just curious. Physical beauty was seen as secondary in almost every part of Gith society, including choosing mating partners. Intelligence, physical strength, station within the Legion or just plain skill where far more important and every Gith would opt for intelligence when force to decided between it and beauty.

"Welcome back, Evincar," Zyris said, recovering first from his surprise. "I have finished compressing the Atlantis database. We can start transferring it to i Predator /i on your command."

"Did you manage to locate Colonel Sheppard yet?" Veldrin inquired, feeling that this was running way too smoothly. Was Sheppard undermining his plans as they were speaking?

"Uhm no, Evincar, our troops took the armory without resistance and nothing indicates that the rest of Atlantis' commanders know we are here! However, there has been no word from Necroshade Belbe since your departure. Shall we start taking the rest of the city and look for her?"

"The Necroshade was collaborating with the Lanteans and I was forced to eliminate her! It is an unfortunate loss but I think the population is still unaware of our presence."

"So shall we take the city then?" Zyris asked, giving no indication that this unexpected new surprised or disquieted him.

The Evincar mulled it over for a moment. On the one hand, taking Atlantis would be very rewarding and an ironic twist of fate. The capital of the Ancients in the hands of the Gith, he was certain his weak cousins would boil with rage if they could see this. But on the other hand, staying here was risky. Even with Mortanius help, he didn't have the manpower to take down all of Atlantis defense at once. If Sheppard managed to gather a considerable strike force, he might retake the city before the Gith had finished pillaging it. True, there was nothing that reliably indicated something like that might happen but he had underestimated the Colonel once before and was determined not to make the same mistake twice.

_"I really think that you're giving the __fleshworm__ too much credit!" Mortanius commented. "What could he possibly do to injure us?__"_

Veldrin ignored the Nighwalker's ranting; there were more pressing things to take care of than Mortanius' antics. He knew now what he would do now.

"How long will transmitting the database to _Predator_ approximately take?" he asked, wondering how long they would have to defend their position if things got ugly.

"That is difficult to say but I would guess maybe about 45 minutes," the Loremaster responded. "I would try to accelerate the process but even in a compressed state the database is enormous and I can't reduce it anymore without losing data."

"Very well, begin immediately and inform _Predator_ that we are heading out! Afterwards, I want you to return to the ship and prepare our return into hyperspace. On my sign, I want you to bring us back on board and jump into hyperspace immediately!"

"As you command, your Highness," Zyris stated and moved over to the consol to do as he was bidden.

"Why are we retreating?" Kolya asked in a furious whisper. "And what to hell happened to you out there? You look like some kind of living nightmare!"

"I have partly ascended thanks to our new ally, Mortanius the Nightwalker," Veldrin stated coolly, indicating Twilight with his hand. "To answer your other question: We are retreating because staying here any longer would be an unnecessary risk. We already have what we wanted! With their ZPM and the Atlantis database overthrowing the Wraith will be much easier, mission accomplished!"

The Genii looked as though he couldn't believe what he just heard. "I thought you wanted to kill Sheppard as much as I do and now you just walk away? If I didn't know better, I would think you're afraid of him!"

Veldrin bristled at the Commander's assumption but decided to let the comment slip and to ignore Mortanius' suggestion to gut the fool and be done with it. "I'm not just walking away; I just prefer to let Sheppard come to me to searching the whole city for him! All the Lanteans are hopelessly heroic and as such utterly predictable. I am sure that in no time he will try to retake the city, giving us the perfect opportunity to kill him! However, Sheppard is quite a solid tactician so I think it would be wise to secure our spoils, just in case his attack is more effective than expected. Happy now?"

"What do you want me to do?" Kolya asked, ignoring the jibe.

"Take all remaining men and reinforce our troops at the ZPM, we can't risk losing it. If Sheppard shows up there he will be all yours!"

"Evincar, don't you think it's too dangerous for you to stay here on your own?" Zyris asked. "What if they captured or killed you?"

"I appreciate your concern, Loremaster, but trust me it will be much safer for you to be out of the way when the Lantean's attack this room. My transformation has made me more than powerful enough to deal with everything Sheppard might throw against me, it's simply unlikely than anyone in the closer vicinity will be alive afterwards!"

"What about the hostages, sir?"

"Leave them," Veldrin said, now speaking with Mortanius' unearthly voice, "They might come in handy!"

- - - - -

Ford knew that he had found Sheppard when he saw the two unconscious Gith piled up in front of the armory. Hoping that the Colonel was still inside, he opened the door and found himself face to face with Sheppard, Bates and four Marines he didn't know. All of them were just busy arming themselves and seemed quite surprise to see him. Sheppard overcame his surprise first.

"Ford! What the hell happened to you?"

Aiden gave him a weak smile and summarized what had happened on the balcony. Suddenly McKay entered the room, stopping dead on his tracks when he saw Ford. Oddly enough, he continued to stare at Aiden what was starting to irritate the Lieutenant.

"Something wrong, McKay?"

"Uhh no, but what happened to your face?"

"My face?" Ford echoed, wondering if the fight with Veldrin had disfigured him even more.

Instead of answering, McKay handed him a small mirror and Aiden saw that his face had indeed changed. It looked exactly as it had before the Atlantis siege and his plunge in the ocean: smooth, unlined and boyishly handsome. His left eye was back to normal brown and even his left eyebrow had been restored. He also noted that despite this regeneration he looked every bit as exhausted as he felt.

"I guess Mortanius has healed this old wound as well," he stated and handed the mirror back to Rodney. "But now we should talk tactics! How are we going to retake Atlantis?"

"We were just discussing that," Sheppard stated. "Rodney do you have any info for us?"

"I have used a nearby lab to access the biometric sensors and found out the Gith apparently concentrate on guarding the ZPM. The 'gate room seems hardly guarded at all but it's impossible to be sure since we don't know which signal is a hostage. Anyway, they don't try to secure the rest of the city, the ZPM and the 'gate room seems all that matters to them."

"I don't like this," Sheppard stated. "A vulnerable 'gate room seems like a trap to me, especially with the hostages still inside. What is Veldrin up to?"

"Maybe he simply doesn't need it," Bates suggested. "After all, with a ship in the orbit around Atlantis they don't have to rely on the Stargate for transport!"

The Colonel shook his head. "Veldrin is an excellent strategist; he wouldn't leave part of his position undefended without a reason. Besides, he will no doubt try to kill me before leaving Atlantis and I think the 'gate room is the trap I'm supposed to fall into. He will wait there for me while the rest of his men will secure the ZPM."

"And he relies on you to come on your own?" Bates asked. "A Gith is expecting you to play fair?"

"Of course not, I guess he just thinks he can handle us even if we outnumber him."

"Anyway it will be hard to subdue him," Ford stated. "We can't match him in brute force, so we either have to outsmart him or wait for him to make a mistake. I think the only weakness he has is that another personality controls most of his powers. Mortanius is not as calculating as Veldrin and may be goaded to make mistakes. If the two fight for control, we might have a chance to overwhelm them. Not the best plan but I'm fresh out of other ideas.

Sheppard looked thoughtful for a moment. "Ok, here is the plan: Bates you take the Marines and secure the ZPM. Ford and I will retake the 'gate room. Rodney you should go back to the lab and coordinate our operation with the biometric sensors. Oh, and try to stay out of trouble for one time."

"Right," McKay said, "but I have one question: Are you planning to use grenades when you attack the Genii at the ZPM?"

Bates nodded. "We will need them if we want to win this fight. The Gith will have barricaded themselves too effectively to try a frontal attack."

"Well you better start thinking of something else than because this tactic could destroy the ZPM and take about half the city with it. While being tapped it is much more vulnerable to external damage and a grenade explosion could trigger a devastating chain reaction during which we would lose all control about the energy output!"

"So grenades are out," John stated, "any other suggestions?"

Ford had none nor had any other of the soldiers. However, it took McKay no time to come up with yet another idea out of his apparently infinite arsenal of useful scientific brainwaves.

"I could trigger a controlled rise of the energy output with the consol at the lab. Due to a defect in the isolating material – I originally intended to fix today – part of the energy would flow into the floor, turning everyone inside the room into a light bulb. I don't know exactly how strong the impulse will be and it probably won't kill or seriously injure them but anyway you will have the distraction you need – with the benefit of not risking the destruction of Altantis in the process!"

"Good thinking, Rodney," Sheppard said. "All right guys, let's head out! After all we don't want to keep Veldrin waiting!"

- - - - -

"I knew you would come!" Veldrin said as John and Ford burst into the 'gate room. "I didn't expect him though. How did you survive?"

"Your little pet Ancient saved me!" Ford snapped back. "He thought it would be more fun this way!"

The Evincar scowled. "To Mortanius everything is a game and I think I'll have to take care of this habit eventually. But it doesn't really matter anyway: I can handle both of you without problems!"

"Where is Elizabeth?" Sheppard asked, keeping his P90 aimed at the Gith.

"Over there" Veldrin stated, pointing towards the Stargate. There Elizabeth as well as the rest of the 'gate room staff lay shackled and gaggled, right in front of the 'gate. "I hope nobody tries to dial it right now. Matter/antimatter reactions are pretty unpleasant, especially if your body is caught up in it. So now that we have the preliminaries out of the way, can we get over to the killing? Or have you something really heroic to say before I crush you?"

"You mean something like 'get him Ford'? Sheppard asked and opened fire. However, a black sphere of energy enclosed the Gith and absorbed the attack. After a few rounds both of the soldiers ceased firing. Veldrin responded with a bolt of purple lightning that missed John's head by millimeters and tore a hole into one of the consoles. Ford fired another slave at the Evincar who turned into energy and dodged the bullets easily.

"This is getting somehow repetitive," the Gith stated. "You try to shoot me; I deflect your attack and retaliate with energy bolts. Maybe it's time for something innovative. Let's see how you fare against this!"

Nestled safely in another energy sphere, Veldrin channeled energy into his right fist which got rapidly completely enclosed by purple energy. John wondered what exactly was he doing but was certain that nothing good would come out of this. Things weren't going well at all. Up to now, they still had to find a way to actually hurt the Lord of Shakuras, preferably without getting killed in the process. Elizabeth met his eyes and he tried to give her a reassuring smile, certain that he would fail miserably.

"Sir, look!" Ford said, pointing at Veldrin.

Sheppard twisted around a saw that now six jet-black spheres floated above the former Highexecutor's left palm. They seemed completely smooth and harmless enough unless – oh this couldn't end well.

"Something for you two to play with!" Veldrin snarled, throwing the stones at them. Just in time small holes appeared in the protective shield, letting the spheres pass and closing themselves only seconds later. One of them missed Fords head by centimeters while another hit John's left side and broke several rips, knocking the wind out of the Colonel. The other projectiles smashed equipment left and right of the soldiers, only to rebound and continue to cause mayhem in the room.

"Perpetuum mobile!" the Evincar gloated. "Now I'll just lay back and watch you getting beaten to pulp by my little spheres. I wonder how much of the room – and of the hostages – will be left once you are dead! I must remember to congratulate Mortanius for this elegant way of destroying you!"

"Yeah and you can tell him that he's a terrible coward as well and that I don't know what Chaya saw in him!" John yelled as he dodge another sphere that would have shattered his left hand had it hit. Out of corner of his eyes he saw Elizabeth twisting aside just in time to avoid one of the globes that had been aimed at her temple. In less than two minutes, the bouncing spheres had almost completely ruined the 'gate room only to stop abruptly and remain floating in mid air.

"How do you know about her?" Veldrin asked, now in an unearthly voice that John presumed to be Mortanius'. "She ascended long before you were born! Unless… yes, she must have remained behind to protect this dear planet of hers! Her stupid idealism didn't stop her from betraying me, why should it be different with the other? Tell me, fleshworm! Where can I find her?"

"Maybe you should have listened better when she told you of her home! 'Cause I'm not going to tell you!"

"Then I'll make you! And since you are so fond of the direct approach, I'm sure you will like this!"

Both the spheres and Veldrin's personal shield dissolved back into energy that pooled in the center of the Evincar's outstretched hand. Ford seized the opportunity and fired at the Evincar, burying one bullet in the Gith's shoulder. Unfazed, the Lord of Shakuras hurled the newly formed energy sphere at them, hitting the stairs that led toward the Stargate. A blinding flash and a shockwave followed.

When his ears had stopped ringing and his eyes had recovered from the explosion, John realized that he had survived the detonation without greater injuries. His body felt like it had been beaten by a sledgehammer and his ribs seemed to be on fire but he was still breathing. That was the good news. The bad news was that his P90 was lying about 45 centimeters to his right and Veldrin was staring down at him. The rather mad glance in the Evincar's purple eyes told him that he was probably talking to Mortanius right now.

"Now tell me," the Ancient hissed. "Where is Chaya? You have one chance before I vaporize your skull!"

"If you kill you'll never get the answers you want!" Sheppard replied, wondering where Ford was.

Mortanius gave a crackling laugh. "I will find her eventually, even if I have to search every planet in this galaxy and then she will pay for her betrayal! Once I am done with her she will wish I had trapped her in a crystal shard for 10.000 years! But that won't matter to you anyway since you will be long dead then! Goodbye, Sheppard! Trust me, your friends will follow you into oblivion soon enough!"

Energy started to pool at the center of the Ancient's hand only to vanish seconds later. Mortanius looked quite surprised by this and downright alarmed when his eyes changed back to Veldrin's icy blue. John noted that Twilight had gone completely dull.

"What is going on?" Veldrin asked, apparently his old, insidious self. "This isn't supposed to happen!"

Sheppard recognized an opportunity when he saw one. Shoving the Evincar back with a well-placed kick, he grabbed his P90, spun around and opened fire. However just in this moment power was cut in the 'gate room, leaving it shrouded in inky blackness. John saw a faint purple glow in the darkness and concluded that Veldrin had somehow managed to evade the shots and now ran for the door, talking into his radio.

"This is Veldrin, bring me back right now!"

Only seconds later, the Evincar vanished, the rays of the transport beam slicing through the darkness. John wondered if the sudden blackout meant that the Gith had stolen the ZPM or if it had been damaged in the struggle. Just as his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, the lights reignited, leaving him both blinded and relieved.

"Sir, this is Bates. Dr McKay's plan worked just fine! They tried to steal the ZPM but we secured is just before they beamed out! How is your status?"

"Pretty much the same here, Bates, but the 'gate room is a real mess. We've got some wounded so get Beckett down here. And tell the doc to give McKay a mild sedative before you sent him here. He will need it!"

"Understood. Bates, over!"

John got back to his feet and scanned the ruined room. Ford seemed unconscious but alive and the hostages seemed shaken but not seriously injured. His eyes found Elizabeth who gingerly pushed herself up to her knees.

"It's finally over," John said softly as he moved over to untie her.

- - - - -

One day later

"I'm surprised to see you up and running after all you have been through," Caldwell commented when he walked into Elizabeth's office. "But I guess it takes more than a Gith invasion to keep you from working."

"Someone has to keep Rodney under control," Weir replied. "He was close to a nervous breakdown once he saw the 'gate room and is now working 22 hours shifts. Anyone who gets into his way during this repairing spree relies on me to prevent the worst."

"Yes, I saw him yelling at another scientist when I came here, I doubt he even realized that I was there. Can't blame him though, the Gith really wreaked havoc here. Do you have any new information about this artifact Veldrin used? From what I have heard it seems fantastically powerful!"

Elizabeth inwardly smiled at the Colonel's question. Military men were really predictable sometime. Show them a new toy and they're suddenly overflowing with enthusiasm or –should the weapon belong to an enemy – caution. The Pentagon was probably waiting anxiously for his report. "From what Colonel Sheppard remembers we figured out that Twilight is some kind of holding cell for an ascendant Ancient named Mortanius. Apparently he discovered ascension but his therapy only worked for a part of the population. When he found out he couldn't ascend this way, he became obsessed with finding another method and left Atlantis to do his researched unhindered by the other Ancients.

"And he found another way?"

"Yes but whatever he did was so horrible that the other Ascendants, including his wife Chaya, decided he was too dangerous to move freely. They ambushed him and trapped him inside Twilight, burying the shard beneath the city. Veldrin found him and probably made some kind of deal with Mortanius, granting him access to at least part of his power."

Caldwell looked thoughtful for a moment. "But why did his power fail during the fight with Sheppard? A disagreement with Mortanius?"

Weir shook her head. "They seemed to have agreed on killing Sheppard. Rodney believes that empowering Veldrin takes a lot out of Mortanius and he simply overextended himself without even realizing it. Given his mental condition, this sounds like a good explanation to me."

"So it was just luck that he didn't do any more damage?" the Colonel wondered. "We must take this into consideration when we fight the Gith again. I'm just glad we didn't lose the ZPM. But it's a shame that Ronon didn't survive, he was a very valuable ally."

Elizabeth was sure that was the highest compliment a non-terrestrial could expect from Caldwell. They had found Ronon's lifeless body a few hours after retaking the city, probably killed by his own weapon. Weir had been surprised how little the loss saddened her. Was she getting used to losing people or was the reason that she had hardly known him? Teyla was devastated and also the rest of the team seemed quite sullen, although they did their best to hide it. To herself it was another death she was responsible for, another name on the long list of people who had died defending the city – a list that was far too long already.

Bates interrupted their conversation at this point. "Dr Weir, we have searched the entire city but didn't find Belbe's body. She has vanished."

"How is this possible?"

"I asked Lieutenant Ford about it and he believes that she is still alive and uses her amulet to remain hidden. Either that or her dead body has been transported back to _Predator_.

"So it is possible that we still have a Gith in the city?" Caldwell asked, looking not at all happy with this revelation.

"Yes but she could be just as well on board of _Predator _or dead as far as we know." Bates replied. "Best we can do is to keep our eyes open and look for any sign of her. Though of all Gith she might be the least dangerous one – if Lieutenant Ford is right about her."

"Thank you, Sergeant," Elizabeth said, wanting some privacy for the next part of the conversation. Bates understood her hint and left the room, taking great caution not to get into McKay's field of vision. Weir couldn't blame him – Rodney had been more than obnoxious in the last hours. "Has the Pentagon accepted my proposal, Colonel Caldwell?"

"You think I am here as the Pentagon's messaging boy?" Caldwell inquired.

"Yes, they have had enough time to come to an agreement and I doubt anyone of them would tell me in person and risk facing my wrath. So, tell me did they grant the full amnesty for Lieutenant Ford?"

"They did. From what I have heard, it was looking pretty bad for Lieutenant Ford but your report about the Gith attack seemed to have turned the tide. But I want to remind you that he will be both your and Sheppard's responsibility. If anything goes wrong, the Pentagon will have your asses for breakfast, not mine."

"I will gladly take this risk," Elizabeth stated, giddy with relieve. She had not dared to believe things would work out that smoothly. As she absently looked at her watch, she realized that she would better get moving. "I am sorry Colonel, but I have to get going. I have an appointment where I can't risk being late!"

Caldwell looked puzzled. "A diplomatic mission?"

Weir gave him a toothy smile. "Yes, something like that!"

- - - - -

"You look absolutely edible tonight," John commented as Elizabeth stepped into his quarter one hour later.

"An indecent allusion right at the start of the first date, you really mean business. do you?" Weir replied.

John gave her a mischievous smile. "Hey, I have waited for this far too long. If I had known that it would take a Gith invasion to get us together, I would have bribed Veldrin to attack much sooner."

Elizabeth chuckled at the comment. Indeed, being almost killed by a Gith and his crazy Ancient ally had made it quite clear to her that it was time to set her heart on stakes. After all, why should you held back your feelings if you could end up dead tomorrow. An affair with your military chief advisory seemed quite reasonable under these circumstances.

"You know," she said as she leant forward to kiss him, "maybe we should skip dinner."

The End

A/N That was the end of the Gith Saga and since I'm quitting writing fan fiction to get some 'real' writing done there won't be any sequel. I hope you liked it and wish you merry Christmas and a happy new year.


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